


Rebounds & Reunions (AKA When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Some Lemonade)

by MechBull



Category: Hart of Dixie
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-25
Updated: 2012-07-02
Packaged: 2017-11-08 16:05:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/444972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MechBull/pseuds/MechBull
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wade and Lemon have a secret – several in fact. Will the truth come out by their 13.5 year high school reunion?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Spoilers:** Picks up after the first season finale  
 **Disclaimer:** If they were mine, George and Lemon would have gotten married.

 

  
Wade had his choice between a seat in the back closest to the door and one of two empty ones in the front row. He stood in the door, hesitating. Truth was, if this was still high school, there’d be no choice. Obviously he’d sit in the back. And probably sleep through the class anyway.

This wasn’t high school anymore. He was an adult, and he was _making something of himself_. If he was serious about this, then dammit, he needed to start acting like it.

He sighed and walked to the front of the room, trying not to feel like some kind of overachieving brainiac like Z – like some people he wasn’t thinking about anymore. Dropping into one of the seats, he nodded to the guy next to him and then slouched down, trying not to draw attention to himself.

Moments before the class was scheduled to start, someone sat at the desk on the other side of him. He glanced over, an easy grin automatically forming as he took in the long legs and blonde hair. His appreciation ground quickly to a halt, however, when his brain registered who he was actually looking at. She stared back at him, equally shocked.

“Wade!”

Wade blinked and shook his head. “Lemon.”

Before they could say anything else to each other, the teacher walked into the room. Lemon sat up primly, clicking her pen and situating the notebook in front of her as she assumed a _paying attention_ expression Wade remembered all too well from high school. He exhaled a still-disbelieving laugh, covering it up quickly with a cough as he too tuned into the class introduction.

“Welcome to Business Math.”

**

“Wade. Wade!”

Wade sighed, finally turning to face Lemon as she hurried to catch up with him. “Hey Lemon.”

She slowed to match his pace, her face suddenly taking on an awkward expression. “I didn’t – I didn’t know you were signed up for this class.”

“Yeah, well. No one does. That was kind of the plan.”

Lemon shook her head. “What do you mean?”

Wade shrugged, refusing to look at her. “So when I can’t cut it…” he said, trailing off leadingly.

After a moment’s pause, Lemon confessed quietly, “I didn’t tell anyone for the same reason.”

Wade stopped walking and they stared at each other for a long moment.

“Do you want to grab something to eat before heading back to Bluebell?” Lemon finally asked.

“How ‘bout a drink?”

“Even better,” Lemon agreed, turning away again as she led the way to the community college’s parking lot.

**

“Are you kidding?”

Wade shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “No,” he said, fighting the urge to get defensive.

Lemon smacked his arm, and Wade drew back. “Ow!”

“Wade! That’s a great idea! I can’t believe I never thought of it before.”

“OK, _what_ is going on?”

Lemon furrowed her brow and shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“You! You’re being all – all _supportive_.”

Lemon laughed that _oh, silly Wade_ laugh that drove him up a wall, always had. “Oh, silly Wade,” she said predictably, prompting Wade to roll his eyes. “We are friends, after all.”

“No, we ain’t,” he reminded her.

Lemon’s façade broke and she dropped her eyes away from him. Wade sighed.

“Maybe I don’t – hate you,” he allowed.

“Well, good,” Lemon said, a more sincere smile coming to her face. “Because I figure, as the two biggest victims of Hurricanes George and Zoe, we both could use a friend.”

And suddenly, Wade was back to feeling uncomfortable again. “Vict – I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lemon just looked at him.

“So why are you taking the class?” Wade asked, emphatically changing the subject.

“It’s…a start, I guess,” Lemon said, sighing as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’re not the only one who needs to figure out what they’re going to do with the rest of their lives. My plans…fell through. So, back to school.”

“Any ideas yet?”

“Um,” Lemon hedged, tracing a finger over the table top.

Wade ducked his head, trying to catch her eye. “Lemon?”

“Well, I was thinking…I like planning things, you know. Town events, parties, dances. I’m good at it, and heaven knows Bluebell has enough of them. If I’m gonna be doing it anyway, why not professionally?”

“Hmm,” Wade responded thoughtfully. He raised his beer bottle to his mouth and took a swig. “I could see that.”

“Really?” Lemon asked, relieved.

“Sure. You’ve always been bossy.”

Lemon huffed, shaking her head, and Wade couldn’t stop his snort of laughter.

“Anyway,” Lemon continued. “You want to be study buddies? Car pool?”

“Car pool, sure. You might not want to risk me as a study buddy. If one of us isn’t going to cut it…”

“Oh, Wade. You were always smarter than you gave yourself credit for. And you’ve already been running the Rammer Jammer like it was your own.”

Wade tilted his head in acknowledgement.

“I’m the one that hasn’t done anything like this in years,” Lemon added softly.

“When'd you ever get anything less than an A-?”

After a short pause, Lemon nodded her head sharply in determination. “Good point,” she agreed.

Wade grinned, shaking his head.

**

One of the first things Zoe noticed when George pulled to a stop in front of her place was the new fuse box. She knew it had been sitting in Lavon’s house for the last couple months, but Wade never had quite got around to putting it in. But during that last storm, when Zoe deliberately blew out the electricity, the old one officially died.

It had been a memorable storm in more ways than one.

Zoe shook herself, clearing her mind of the memories, and looked over at George with a smile. He glanced at her and smiled back.

“Well,” she said, feeling bizarrely nervous. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“No problem,” George replied. “I’m glad you had a good visit with your mama.”

Zoe laughed. “Well, it was a good visit to New York. Not so much with my mom, who didn’t take the news that I’m staying here indefinitely particularly well.”

“Well, I’m happy about it,” George informed her with a wink.

Zoe smiled. “You want to come in for a while?” she asked, ready to finally start this relationship for real after the delay of her impromptu trip.

George hesitated, looking out the driver’s side window. “Zoe, I thought we agreed – ”

“Not to immediately jump into things, I know.”

“It’s just…the town’s gonna talk enough as it is. It’s the least we could do to make it easier for Lemon.”

“No, I know. I mean, that’s part of the reason I went to New York so suddenly, remember? But I’m not asking you to move in with me or anything. Just hang out for a half hour.”

George half-smiled at her regretfully.

“Another time,” Zoe inferred in disappointment.

“Sorry.”

Zoe forced a smile to her face as she climbed out of the car. Leaning her head back in the window, she wished George a goodbye. Stepping back as he pulled away, she unintentionally looked towards Wade’s place.

There was no sign of life. Zoe sighed. Of all the things she found herself missing in New York, Wade calling out to her from across the distance was surprisingly one of the most notable. Not that he had done so all that much in the day and a half between her flight and the night they – the night of the storm.

Zoe turned away and walked to her door. She was with George now (almost, sort of), something she’d wanted since she first met him. No use in thinking too much about something that really shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

**

“I give up.”

“Wade, come on.”

“No, this is stupid. _I’m_ stupid.”

“You are not, Wade! Just…take it step-by-step.”

Wade flopped back against the couch in Lemon’s den, sighing loudly. Lemon pushed away from the table so she could stand and walk over to him. Sitting down, she took his notebook and looked at his work.

“Wade…you have the right answer.”

Wade lifted his head to stare at her, his expression somewhere between shocked and skeptical. “I do?”

“Yes, Wade,” Lemon said, laughing.

“Really?” Wade took the notebook back from her and stared at his scrawled handwriting.

“Yes! So no more of this ‘stupid’ business, OK?”

Their conversation was interrupted by a door closing somewhere in the house.

“Lemon Zest! Sweetie?”

“Quick! Hide your notebook!” Lemon whispered urgently, rushing back to the table to clear off her own things.

Wade stared at her for a minute, then dropped his notebook behind the couch. He stretched out, awkwardly propping his elbow on the back of the couch. He leaned against his fist and tried to appear natural.

“In the den, Daddy!” Lemon called out sweetly.

“What’s the big deal? He’s your fa – ”

“Shh.”

“So, what are we supp – ”

“Hush, Wade. Let me handle this.”

Brick opened the door and popped his head in, straightening up suddenly when he spotted Wade.

“Wade.”

“Uh. Hi, Doc Bree – Brick.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Me?” Wade responded, his eyes widening slightly. “I – well, uh, I – we’re – ”

“Well, Daddy,” Lemon broke in. “I’ve asked Wade to teach me a little something about cars. You know, Cricket, her tire blew out the other day, and she was waiting by the side of the road for quite some time before she was able to get help. Can you _imagine_? The sun was almost down and everything. I just don’t know what I would have done. So. We were just deciding on a day that worked.”

Brick stared at her suspiciously for a moment. “OK, then,” he said before backing out of the room. Wade and Lemon both exhaled in relief.

“That was good, Lemon.”

“You weren’t,” Lemon replied, scoffing. “'I – I – uh.' Honest to Pete, Wade, it’s like you’ve never lied before, which I know isn’t true.”

“Shut up. It’s just something about a girl’s dad, Lemon. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Grab your notebook.”

“ _Bossy_.”

**

Zoe looked up as the kitchen door opened. She felt her heart begin to speed up and her palms begin to sweat, but she hoped she looked like nothing was out of the ordinary. Lavon stopped speaking and glanced towards the door too.

“Hey, where you been?” he asked Wade. “Game starts in less than five.”

“I know, I know. I’m running – Zoe, you’re back.”

“Um, hi, Wade. How are you?”

Wade shrugged, reaching out and grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter. Zoe felt strangely relieved when he nearly dropped it immediately; it was clear he wasn’t as casual and near-indifferent as he was trying to seem.

“Fine, I guess,” Wade finally answered. “Have a good trip to New York?”

“Ye – yes. I mean, sort of. Moms, you know.”

“Not really,” Wade replied, and Zoe inwardly cringed.

“Well…it was OK.”

Wade nodded, pressing one hand to the counter and leaning slightly as he finally looked at her. Neither one of them dropped the other’s eyes, and several quiet, increasingly uncomfortable moments passed. Lavon looked back and forth between them.

“So, anyway,” he said pointedly. “Game’s about to start. Zoe, you’re welcome to join us.”

“Oh no,” Zoe said quickly. “I think I’ll pass.”

She stood and walked quickly past Wade, trying not to react to the feel of his shirt as it brushed against her arm. She pulled open the door and looked back at them. Wade had twisted half around and was still looking at her.

“Bye,” she said quickly, disappearing out the door.

**

“What was that all about?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wade replied as he flopped onto the couch.

“And why were you running late?”

“Lavon, come on. Game’s about to start.”

Lavon frowned at Wade but didn’t say anything else.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

_June_

“No. No! Lemon, stop. Stop! You’re going to br – dammit, Lemon!”

“Stop _yelling_ at me, Wade!”

The shouting was hard to ignore, and both Zoe and George turned to look over towards Wade’s place as they stepped out of her house. However, they couldn’t actually see the owner of the voice or the object of his annoyance as both were standing behind the open hood of Wade’s car. 

“What on earth?” George asked quietly. In response, Zoe simply shook her head.

By then, both Wade and Lemon had lowered their volume and Zoe could no longer make out what they were saying. Shortly thereafter, Lemon walked around to the open driver’s side door, smoothing her hands down the front of her old, dirty jeans and exhaling deeply. She sat down, leaving her legs hanging out of the car as she reached for the ignition. A moment later, the engine turned over, and Zoe heard Lemon’s excited cheer over the sound of it.

“I did it!” Lemon called out, as she stood up again. “I did it!”

Wade walked around to meet her, laughing as Lemon wrapped her arms around his neck and jumped up and down. He rested a hand on her lower back, and Zoe felt a pang of _something_ at that as much as the joyful smile on his face. It had been a long time since Wade truly smiled at her. 

Zoe shook herself and inhaled. Turning towards George, who was still staring at the other two with an unreadable expression, she forced a smile to her face. “Ready?” she asked.

“What?” George focused on her again. “Yeah, let’s go.”

**

“Ugh, Wade,” Lemon complained as she walked back into his living room. “Your bathroom’s disgusting.”

“Yeah, well. I gave the cleaning lady the day off,” Wade replied, not looking up from where he was picking out a tune on his guitar.

Lemon rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch. “I am never getting all this oil out from under my fingers,” she said with a sigh as she looked forlornly at her hands. After a moment, she shook her head and leaned forward to pick up her textbook and put it back in her lap. “So, where were we?”

“You wanted to make flashcards,” Wade reminded her.

“Oh yes,” Lemon recalled, clapping her hands in excitement. “I love flashcards.”

“God,” Wade muttered. “This is like Mrs. Turner’s 4th period geometry all over again.”

“Yes, it is. And I’ll remind you that you wouldn’t have passed that class if it wasn’t for me cracking the whip.”

Wade smirked. “Sounds kinkier than it was.”

“Stop trying to distract me and find some notecards.”

“Fine,” Wade replied. “But I’m also finding a beer.”

“Ooh, get me one too.”

“Lemon Breeland. First, mechanical labor, now generic beer in the middle of the afternoon. Full of surprises these days.”

“Oh ho ho,” Lemon called out after him as he walked across to the small fridge in the corner of the room. “I am not the dull goody-two-shoes you think I am, Wade Kinsella.”

A loud scoff was the only answer he gave, and Lemon turned around to face him, kneeling on the couch and leaning over the back.

“Well, here’s news for you: I cheated on George. With Lavon.” When he didn’t respond, she added quietly, “I figured it was time you knew.”

To her surprise, he barely reacted as he walked back over and held out a beer. She took the bottle and stared at him, waiting.

“Oh, was that supposed to shock me?” he asked nonchalantly.

“You _knew_?”

Wade shrugged. “I do live, like, a foot away from him, you realize? And he’s one of my best friends. I know when he’s trying to keep something a secret.”

Lemon’s mouth moved abortively for several seconds before she finally asked, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

There was a pause as Wade walked around the couch and sat next to her. He glanced over at her with a quick smile. “I don’t know,” he confessed. “Maybe I should have. I guess I just didn’t think it was my place. You’re both adults, and I’m hardly a, uh, a _moral_ authority.”

“Why didn’t – why didn’t you say anything to George?” Lemon asked, nervously picking at a piece of imaginary lint on her pants.

“I…was pissed at him,” Wade said as if he was only just realizing it.

“Why?”

“You weren’t the only one he left behind.” Wade stared straight ahead, sighing as he lifted his beer to take a long swallow. “And…later. He just, everything comes so perfectly to him, it seems. Anyo – Everything he wants, he gets. I figured you musta been what he wanted after all, and you seemed happy. I didn’t want to be the one to mess you two up.”

Lemon narrowed her eyes. “That doesn’t sound completely truthful, Wade.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“How about that you had a vested interest in keeping George committed elsewhere?”

Wade cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I don’t know what – ”

“Oh, Wade. Yes, you do.”

“Fine, alright?” Wade exclaimed in annoyance, standing up and stepping away from the couch. “God, Lemon, why do you always gotta push?”

“Because I want to be honest! And I want people to be honest with me! I’m so tired of all the lies and – and the secrets and the ‘don’t want to hurt you, Lemons.’”

Wade deflated as the anger seeped out of him. He turned to face Lemon again, swallowing and blinking once, before walking back over and sitting down again.

“I didn’t want George to be single,” Wade admitted quietly. He paused, and after an encouraging nod from Lemon, he continued. “I didn’t want him to be an option for Zoe.”

Lemon curled her legs up underneath her, resituating herself to rest her head against Wade’s shoulder. With a soft sigh, she reached out and took hold of his hand. 

“You have real feelings for her. I don’t think that’s happened in a long time. Not since Tancy, maybe. Or maybe – I don’t know – maybe never, really.”

Wade didn’t answer.

“Sucks, doesn’t it?”

“I hate it.”

Lemon laughed quietly, and Wade exhaled once in pained amusement himself. Silence came over the room again then, and Wade squeezed Lemon’s hand.

“What about you? You’ve obviously got – what are they called – _unresolved feelings_ for George. Any for Lavon?”

Lemon hesitated. She shook her head, causing Wade to wince as the bone of her skull dug into his shoulder.

“No,” Lemon said slowly, uncertainly, only to add a more sincere “No.”

“None?”

“The thing I had with Lavon, it was – I can’t explain it. One of the most profound experiences of my life, and something I needed so, _so_ badly then. But it was never meant to last, and I think we both knew that.”

“Well…good,” Wade said. “Because I think he might be into someone new.”

“Really?” Lemon asked, sitting up and looking at Wade. “Who?”

Wade paused, thinking it over as he pressed his tongue to his lower lip. “Um…Tancy.”

“No!” Lemon responded in shock. “ _Your_ Tancy?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Wade reminded her, holding his hands up in surrender to reinforce that fact. “It’s just a suspicion.”

“Are you…OK with that?”

Wade nodded. “Totally. Are you?”

“Yeah, actually. I could really see them together.”

“You’re not gonna get all matchmaker now, are you?”

Lemon scoffed and shook her head. “I don’t think he’d appreciate that.”

“Great.” They stared at each other for a moment. “So can we study now?”

Lemon’s eyes widened in shock.

“I want to be done with this conversation now,” he explained. “Notecards are the lesser of two evils if the alternative is talking about _feelings_.”

**

Zoe walked into the kitchen, smiling as charmingly and innocently as she could. She made it through the entire movie and dinner with George in Mobile (where he was frustratingly gentlemanly and didn’t even put his arm around her, which actually didn’t bug her all that much considering she was pretty distracted herself). And she made it all through the night after that (alone in her house, checking out the window every twenty minutes or so and still missing Wade and Lemon’s goodbye when she finally left at close to _one o’clock in the morning_ , not that it really mattered to Zoe one way or the other). And she made it through her entire shift at the practice, despite the fact that Brick barely talked to her anymore (just one more piece of the fallout from George calling off the wedding, and _that_ she was willing to admit hurt. She had gotten used to having Brick as a friend and colleague and pseudo-father, and she missed it).

But now, she couldn’t ignore it anymore. Because Wade wasn’t at the Rammer Jammer when she’d stopped in after work. No one had seen him all day. And when she subtly asked, she discovered no one had seen Lemon all day either. And she had to _know_.

“Lavon!” she said, pleased with herself for sounding fairly casual.

“What do you want?” he asked suspiciously.

Maybe not so casual. 

Zoe redoubled her efforts, gesturing with a _no big deal_ , dismissive kind of wave. “So, I was just wondering.”

“What?” Lavon clearly wasn’t buying it.

“Wade and Lemon,” Zoe blurted. Then she quickly made a face, shook her head and blew out a breath simultaneously. She kind of worried she looked like she might be having a seizure. “What’s that about, _huh?_ ”

“No,” Lavon said. “No. No. No.”

He stood up and walked into the living room.

“I’m just curious,” Zoe called after him.

“Lavon Hayes is not getting sucked back into the crazy. You got what you wanted. Now leave that boy alone.”

“Don’t you care? I mean, Lavon. It’s Lemon. _Lemon!_ ”

Lavon didn’t answer, and Zoe threw her hands up in defeat. She turned around and stomped back out of the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

Rose hunched her shoulders as she took a sip of her Coke. After she swallowed, she sat back, sighed loudly and stared out the window. That was about all the wallowing Wade – a foot away wiping off the next table – could take.

“What’s wrong now, Four-Eyes?”

Rose turned to him, startled by the interruption to her thoughts. “What? Nothing!”

“OK,” Wade replied, then made a show of starting to walk away.

“Wait!”

He pivoted back around, walking closer to lean against Rose’s table. Lifting one eyebrow, he waited. Rose looked uncomfortable, but finally she spoke. 

“Wade, you’re a guy.”

“Last I checked.”

“And – I mean, you’ve…kissed girls.”

Wade shifted, starting to wish he never nudged Rose to get out of her funk. “Sure.”

“Well…how do you get any good at it? Because I think…I’m not.”

Wade sighed, glancing over his shoulder as he scratched at his eyebrow. He pulled the other chair at the table out with his foot and sat down.

“No one is, not at first. There’s no such thing as a natural. It’s weird. It’s a weird thing to do with someone. It just takes practice.”

Rose looked to the side quickly to make sure no one was listening, then leaned forward and said quietly, “Frederick Dean does this lip-biting thing that is really…kind of gross.”

Wade snorted before he could stop his reaction. “Have you told him that?”

“ _No!_ How could I? O-M-G, Wade.”

“It’s the only way it’s gonna stop.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Wade explained, “Magnolia must have liked that.”

The look on Rose’s face was priceless, and Wade almost felt repaid for suffering through this conversation. He laughed lightly before taking pity on her.

“Look, when you’re first with someone new, it’s all about trial and error, OK? He doesn’t know what you like so all he can do is stuff that’s worked for him in the past and hope something sticks. Help him out and teach him what you like. Ask him what he likes. Pay attention to his cues and be honest when you send back some of your own.”

Rose still seemed too disgusted to take his advice seriously and he couldn’t really blame her when she went for retaliation with, “So, what? All your moves you learned from…every girl you’ve ever met who still had all her teeth?”

Wade grinned. “Nice one. You’ve been spending too much time with the Doc.”

Rose tilted her head and smiled sarcastically.

“You’re still young so I’ll spare you the explanation for why teeth sometimes get in the way.”

And at that, Wade felt a smack to the back of his head. He turned in surprise, staring at Zoe. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it doesn’t sound appropriate.”

“When am I ever appropriate, Doc?”

Zoe rolled her eyes and pointed at the seat Wade occupied. He prepared to give her a hard time and – and then he remembered. He looked down as he cleared his throat. Standing up, he stepped aside, avoiding Zoe’s gaze.

“Wine?”

“Um…yeah.”

Wade didn’t have to look to know that Zoe’s face had fallen. A cloud of awkwardness descended over their little corner of the Rammer Jammer quickly; Wade was grateful for the excuse of her order and even more grateful that he could just send Shelley back with it. He started to walk away and then turned back to face Rose again. There was something more he needed to say, something that would never have occurred to him to say even just a year ago.

“Look, just make sure anything you do, you do because you like it. Don’t do something you don’t like or want just because you’re too shy or embarrassed to speak up.”

“I – know.”

Wade tapped the table once and walked away, missing Zoe’s curious glance after him and the way she turned to Rose seeking explanation.

**

“The cursor is mocking me,” Lemon observed, not looking up from the screen of the computer in her lap.

Wade had given up and was now sprawled out on his couch, eyes closed as he attempted to take a nap.

“Whatcha got so far?” he mumbled.

“Sample Business Portfolio by Lemon Breeland.”

Wade said nothing, waiting for her to continue. Several moments later, he asked, “That’s it?”

“Yes,” Lemon replied despairingly. 

“That’s…sad.”

“That’s more than you have!”

“Uh, not true. I have the thing I wrote up for the loan-that-never-was and a couple drink recipes from the contest. Stuff to start with, at least.”

Lemon growled and collapsed against her seat. 

“I need something like that. Something real, not just my imagination.”

“So, Lemon. You’ve organized a truckload of events. Pick one.”

Lemon sighed and shook her head. She pulled her calendar out of her purse and started to flip back through it. That strategy lasted only a few seconds, with her frown growing deeper with every page.

“Everything on here is wedding plans,” she said quietly.

Before Wade could answer, Lemon steadied herself by taking a deep breath, and moved forward in the calendar instead. And moments later, she inhaled in excitement.

“Wade, that’s it!”

“What is?” He was more than a little concerned by the enthusiastic tone of her voice.

“November. It’s our high school reunion! I’m chair of the committee!”

“Oh, God,” Wade groaned. “Is it here already?”

Lemon was ignoring him, though, already picking up her computer again. 

“So many ideas…” she mumbled as she began to type.

**

“He-ey Wade,” Lavon sang, with a broad smile in welcome, as Wade entered the kitchen the following morning.

“Lavon,” Wade replied somewhat suspiciously, never taking his eyes off his friend as he grabbed a coffee mug from the counter and walked over to the pot. “You’re in a good mood.”

“I am,” Lavon said. “Delia Ann canceled her appointment with me this morning.”

“Well, that will do it,” Wade acknowledged.

“Yeah, I thought I’d…take a drive.”

Wade leaned his forearms on the table and pressed his tongue against the side of his mouth in amusement. 

“Uh-huh. Where to?”

“Um, no place.”

“Uh- _huh_ ,” Wade repeated skeptically.

“You know,” Lavon realized, his shoulders tensing up as he looked around the room nervously.

“Of _course_ I know, Lavon,” Wade all but yelled.

“Oh.” Lavon exhaled. “And you’re – OK with it?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Oh. Well…good.”

Wade shook his head and lifted his eyes to the ceiling.

“I think, um, I think you and Lemon are…you know. Good too.”

“Say what now?”

**

“Morning, Zoe Hart,” George greeted Zoe with a grin when she pulled open her front door.

Zoe immediately reached up to her head, patting at her hair and hoping it didn’t look too out of control. Her other hand clutched at her robe to make sure it was closed.

“George. What are you doing here so early?”

His smile widened as he reached forward, handing her a cup of coffee. “Just wanted to wish you a good morning.”

“That’s – so sweet, George,” Zoe replied, a dopey smile finally appearing on her face.

“And I wanted to say that I think it’s time we took this to the next level. We gotta put the past in the past and move on. If you’re ready.”

“Oh!” Zoe surprisingly felt herself blushing. “Yeah. Um, _yeah_.”

“Good.”

“What’s the next level again?” she asked nervously.

And George stepped forward, wrapping one hand low around her waist and tugging her forward. His head dipped and Zoe found herself lifting her own in response. Their lips touched, followed closely by George’s tongue nudging her mouth open. Zoe sighed softly, her free hand rising up to hook into George’s elbow. George pulled her closer, tilted his head and – Zoe broke the kiss suddenly.

“I’m sorry!” she said, eyes shut tightly as she clearly fought something between a shudder and a giggle. “I’m just…a little distracted.”

“OK,” George said, laughing lightly. “What are you thinking about?”

“Wade!”

George’s laughter ended abruptly. “What?”

Zoe shook her head quickly. “I mean, Lemon. Wade and Lemon.” She lifted her free hand to her face and moaned. “Stop talking, Zoe.”

“I’m…really confused.”

“And my ex,” she mumbled.

“ _What?_ ”

Zoe inhaled and then breathed out loudly. “Something Wade said to Rose. About exes.”

**

“Annabeth, thank you so much! Are these all the boxes?”

“Yes, can you believe there are so many?”

Lemon laughed as she stacked the last box in the corner next to her couch. “The Memory Matrons always have gotten a little enthusiastic when there was an event to photograph.”

“Definitely,” Annabeth agreed. “And do you need any help? Tell me what to do. I’m so excited about the reunion,” she added, clenching her fists and rocking back and forth in a little cheer.

“Um…not right now. I need to just take stock of everything first,” Lemon said evasively. “By myself.”

“OK. Sure,” Annabeth replied, sounding suddenly less cheerful and more like she planned to shine a bright light into Lemon’s face to make her talk. “You sure you’re not gonna work on it with anyone else?”

“Annabeth, don’t be silly. Who else would I work on something like this with?”

“Wade Kinsella!”

Lemon stared at her.

“Lemon, the _whole_ town knows about you two!”

“What?!”

“Yes, and you shoulda _seen_ George Tucker’s face when he heard Tom Long and a couple other fellas talking about it. It is _killing_ him!”

“I’m – I’m – I don’t know what to say.”

Annabeth laughed and shook her head. “You don’t have to say anything to me! I’ve seen him without his shirt on. Way to go, Lemon!”

“Um,” Lemon managed to reply. 

“I’m just jealous you got there first! Oh well, there’s always Mayor Hayes…”

Lemon whimpered.

**

Lemon stormed into the Rammer Jammer and headed directly for the bar. Wade glanced up and smiled at her.

“Don’t smile at me,” she hissed, looking around the room quickly. 

“Oh, you heard,” was his only reply.

“Yes, I heard! What are we gonna do?”

Wade shrugged. “You don’t want to tell people the truth, do you?”

“No! Not yet anyway.”

“Me neither.”

Lemon sighed as she pulled out a stool and sat down. She bit her lip and stared at Wade, at a loss. And just then the front door opened again. She glanced over and saw George and Zoe walk in. Zoe looked over at them – Wade in particular – and then quickly turned away, hurrying to a table at entirely too fast a pace. George stared for a second longer; Lemon had known him better than herself for the last 15 years and unless she was crazy…

She turned back to Wade who was studiously ignoring the new arrivals, focusing instead on wiping an already clean glass.

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked.

Wade looked up. A nervous expression grew on his face.

“I’m thinking the last time I saw you looking like that we turned a guy blue.”


	4. Chapter 4

_July_

Lemon couldn’t stop the nostalgic smile spreading across her face as she took the lid off the first box of photographs. She reached inside and pulled out an envelope, sliding the contents out into her hand.

“Oh my God,” she breathed. “It’s the talent show from 7th grade. What did I do? Oh, yes. A scene from Steel Magnolias.”

Wade snickered. “I skipped that day.”

“Not just that day, as I recall,” Lemon pointed out, and Wade shrugged.

“Here’s the inventory,” Wade said to change the subject. “Looks like this box has fifth through eighth grades. So it’s gonna be a lot of braces and bad hair.”

“Remember Laura’s perm?”

“How could I forget?”

Lemon laughed in agreement. She leaned over and opened the next box. “This one’s…JV and varsity football games.”

“Oooh, cheerleaders,” Wade observed, abandoning the pictures he was looking at and moving over to the other box.

“You’re such a pig.”

“Never claimed otherwise,” Wade pointed out, mostly focused on the pictures he was flipping through. “So what are you gonna do with these anyway?”

“Um...” Lemon murmured, shuffling over on her knees to the next box. “Blow them all up and kind of make big collages for the wall decorations. Part timeline, part a game of ‘how many people can you recognize?’”

“All humiliation,” Wade added, grimacing at a picture.

“Oh don’t be so negative! This is fun!”

Wade put the pictures back in the box and focused on Lemon. “Why do you care about these things so much? The reunion and all your little activities. It just seems like way too much effort.”

“Well, Wade, until recently you never really cared much about anything, so I can see why you wouldn’t understand.”

Wade bit his tongue for a moment and then sighed. “So, explain it to me.”

“It’s our past,” Lemon stressed, turning to look at Wade. “Our whole lives. Everything that made us into the people we are today. Why shouldn’t we remember it and honor it?”

“Yeah, well. Nothing about any of this,” Wade gestured at the boxes of pictures, “has anything to do with my life right now. It made me who I was a year ago and as you just pointed out, I’m not that person anymore. In fact, I’m trying very hard not to be the person that my past says I should be, and I don’t want a night of reminiscing about it.”

“Well, how about a night of free food and alcohol?” Lemon asked with an exaggerated smile.

“That,” Wade replied, pointing at her in emphasis, “I’ll take.”

Neither one spoke for a moment as they continued to look through the boxes of photographs, the silence eventually changing from slightly awkward and strained to comfortable again. Lemon occasionally made notes in her notebook and finally she stopped, inhaling in determination.

“You know, I _hate_ her but I have to thank her for the changes she brought about in you. I’m so excited to see you becoming the person I always knew you could be.”

Wade stared at her for a moment and then looked away with a slight shake of her head. “It’s not just her.”

“I know. But she’s part of it.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“She’s a fool for not appreciating it.” A slow smile started to form on Lemon’s face. “Which is why – ”

“Oh God, not this again,” Wade groaned.

“Why _not_?”

“Because it’s a dumb idea!”

“It is not! It’s foolproof!” Lemon emphasized her statement with clenched fists.

“Making them jealous so they break up and we get to swoop in?”

Lemon hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Something like that!”

Wade shook his head. “It’s not going to work.”

“Yes, it will!”

“You’re certifiable.”

**

Lemon hummed to herself as she went through yet more pictures later that night. She sorted them into piles of which ones to copy and which ones to file back in the appropriate boxes. Mostly she tried not to think about all the ones she came across featuring her smiling happily while standing next to George. 

“Hi baby,” Brick said, walking into the room.

“Daddy!” Lemon welcomed him, grateful for the distraction. She put the pictures on the coffee table and gave him her full attention. “How was your day?”

“Oh, just fine, sweetie,” her father answered. He sat next to her, dropping one arm around her shoulders. “What are you working on?”

“Oh, I’m starting planning for the reunion.”

“My God,” Brick lamented, running a hand down his face, “Has it been 13 years already?”

“Mmm,” Lemon nodded sympathetically. “Can you believe it?”

“Not at all.” He leaned forward and picked the pile of photographs up from the table. Glancing through them, he added, “Are you doing this all by yourself? None of your friends are helping?”

“Not yet,” Lemon replied. She shifted nervously before adding, “That is, Wade Kinsella’s helped me a bit.”

Brick froze and Lemon tried not to react. 

“You know, Addy said something to me the other day,” Brick started slowly. “And I didn’t believe her.”

“What’s that, Daddy?”

“That you and Wade were…”

Lemon didn’t answer, trying to figure out if she should tell him the truth or stick to her plan. If it was going to work, everyone needed to believe it. Her hesitation was enough of an answer, it turned out.

“Lemon Lime, this isn’t like you.”

“What isn’t?”

“Honey, Wade is – I know you’re hurting right now. But he’s not the kind of guy you’re going to be happy with.”

“I’m not looking to marry him, Daddy,” Lemon objected with a nervous laugh. “We’re just…being friendly. Like old times.”

“He was never a good influence on you,” Brick stated. “And he’s…”

“He’s what, Daddy?” Lemon asked, starting to feel more offended for her friend. “Trouble? Poor? The son of the town drunk? Uneducated? What?”

“He’s got a reputation,” Brick reminded her. “When it comes to women.”

“Yes, well.” Lemon couldn’t reasonably deny that. “He’s different now. I don’t expect you to believe me, because you’ve never liked him, not since the _incident_.”

“Oh, that incident where the three of you got detention for a week, you mean?”

“Yes! And it’s time you learned the truth. It was my idea. I was the mastermind behind it all.”

Brick turned to stare at her, and Lemon nodded.

“Behind pretty much everything that we did and the boys took the blame for. If anything, I’m a bad influence on him.”

Brick sighed and shook his head. “Be that as it may, darling, you’re an adult now. I want you to be happy, and I can’t see it lasting with him.”

“It probably won’t,” Lemon easily agreed. “But Daddy, I could do a whole lot worse. He’ll probably never win the MOTY, but he is one of the most decent men in this town.”

More decent than certain hypocritical men who told women in wedding gowns they were in love with someone else, at any rate.

**

Zoe sighed, running a hand through her hair and arching her back in a stretch as she walked up to her house. It had been a long day at work, between the usual patient concerns and Addy’s never-ending commentary on the gossip of the town. She supposed she should be thankful that the scandal of her and George had been, temporarily at least, taken over by the shock of Wade and Lemon’s _dalliance_.

And then work was followed by an early dinner with George that was just…Zoe couldn’t figure out why things were still so strange between them. They were finally together, but everything still seemed so – their interactions were more hesitant than ever. After all the indications, all of Zoe’s hopes, that they would be so good together… And she couldn’t decide if the tension was because of the circumstances of how they got together and whatever was going on between Wade and Lemon now or if they would have faced these problems regardless. She couldn’t predict if they’d get past this start of their relationship and get into a groove. Or, as a small voice niggled in the back of her mind, she really wanted to, after all.

She kind of hated Wade more than ever now.

“Hey Doc!”

Speak of the devil. Zoe faced Wade’s place where he was apparently just coming home too. Zoe wondered if he had been out with Lemon and what they had done and if he kissed her with as much urgency and passion as he had kissed Zoe.

“Hi Wade,” she replied, grateful for the distance so he couldn’t see her face. She wasn’t entirely sure she could maintain her composure right now. Mostly she was just happy he spoke to her first after so long. “Have a good day?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Great!” she lied. 

There was a long moment of silence, reminding Zoe again how much she missed her friend, and wondering how much blame she really deserved for the end of everything between them. Frankly, she was still kind of angry that Wade hadn’t even tried, hadn’t said _anything_ when he found out the wedding was off, had just looked at Zoe and walked out Lavon’s kitchen.

Maybe he had been telling the truth and it really was nothing but lust. He got her out of his system, only to get himself stuck in Zoe’s.

“Well, ‘night,” Wade called. 

“Don’t play your music too loud,” Zoe shouted back, trying to sound playful but ending up somewhere in the vicinity of scolding. She shook her head quickly and searched for a way to change that.

“Yeah, OK.” Wade nodded and turned inside before she could say anything more.

Zoe sighed.


	5. Chapter 5

Wade tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, matching the beat of the song playing on the radio, while Lemon stared out the window, quietly singing along. They were still about 10 minutes out of Bluebell and the drive had been largely uneventful. Wade felt extremely relaxed, seeing as how they had just handed in their final projects and he had the entire weekend to forget about the class and the grades they’d get on Monday.

“I still think you should have let me read through your project,” Lemon observed.

Wade glanced at her. “I just wanted to do it all on my own,” he explained for what felt like the hundredth time. “I wanted to prove to myself I could.”

“Well…just tell me what it said now.”

Wade was silent. He rubbed his eye with the tips of his fingers and stared ahead at the road for a moment. “I had, you know, a sample menu and monthly budget. Promotions and special offers to get customers. Staff plans. How I picture the bar. That kind of thing.”

“How do you picture the bar?” Lemon asked curiously.

“I don’t really – ”

“Come on. Just tell me, Wade.”

Wade sighed loudly. “I guess _different_ from what we have now. I don’t want to compete with the Rammer Jammer; I just want to give people another option. More booths, less tables. Quieter music. Dimmer lighting. More of a date place, maybe.”

“A bit classier.”

Wade snorted. “Never would have expected to hear anything associated with me described like that.”

“You know what I mean!”

“Look, I’m not saying it should be snooty or anything. That ain’t me. I just mean…”

“A place Zoe Hart would feel at home?” Lemon offered quietly. “So she didn’t miss New York?”

Wade didn’t answer for almost a full minute. “Not everything I do is about her,” he finally said. “You make me sound pathetic.”

“I don’t think you’re pathetic,” Lemon argued. “I think it’s kind of romantic.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Wade replied, clearly trying to shut down the conversation.

“Whatever happened between you two anyway?”

“Nothing.”

Lemon stared at him for a beat. “Wow, you answered that _way_ too quickly. Which means you at least made out, probably more. Does she know about your feelings or…?”

“Lemon,” Wade complained, his feeling of relaxation completely gone. “Just leave it alone for once.”

_August_

It happened almost in slow-motion. Lemon could sense just when the heel of her left shoe broke, just when the dry-cleaning fell out of her hands as she tried to catch her balance, just when her ankle twisted and she almost went down to the ground after the clothes. She was aware of it all as soon as it was happening, and she couldn’t do a thing to stop it. 

Instead, George stopped it, appearing out of nowhere and catching her in his arms before any more damage could be done.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed rather breathlessly, staring up into George’s eyes and trying very hard not to feel like a damsel in distress being rescued by Prince Charming.

“Lemon! Are you OK? Did you hurt yourself?” 

It was possibly the first time he actually spoke to her since the wedding was called off, not counting when she told him she didn’t need his help returning the gifts and he told her the ring was hers to keep, as if she could bear to even look at it anymore. His voice now though was kind and concerned, and Lemon…hated it. She hated that _this_ was how he saw her, this was how their first real interaction went, with George the hero and she being unable to stand up – for herself or in general. She had wanted to be poised, in control, beautiful. A woman scorned concealed by Southern grace and charm.

“No, I’m fine, George,” she finally replied with as much composure as she could muster. “Thank you very much.”

Her attempts at regaining some sort of control of the situation failed miserably when she tried to stand fully and he cautiously removed his supporting arm. Her foot rolled underneath her and she nearly crumpled to the ground. George quickly moved close again; his arm around her waist was both welcome and entirely unwanted.

“We better get you to your dad’s office,” he suggested as he awkwardly attempted to bend down and pick up her dropped items. 

By the time they finally made it there at Lemon’s hobbling pace, much of her embarrassment and annoyance had faded. Thankfully she had also managed to rationalize away most of her response to George’s behavior. Of course she was grateful for his help, but it didn’t mean anything. She would have been grateful to anyone – and anyone would have offered help. 

Perhaps that attitude was why she wasn’t even particularly bothered when Zoe appeared in the lobby of her father’s office. The three of them stood there facing each other for a moment, until finally George broke the silence.

“Uh, Zoe, Lemon’s twis – ”

“Is my father here?” Lemon interrupted.

“Um…” Zoe’s voice trailed off for a moment. “No. No, he was called to Mobile to see a patient.”

Yet more silence.

“I could take a look,” Zoe added, her forced eagerness plainly revealing the reluctance behind the offer.

For one hysterical moment, Lemon considered turning around and walking out of the office. And then she remembered she wasn’t going to let them see her hurt again. And she was supposed to be with Wade and not care about them. And, most importantly, she couldn’t walk anyway.

“OK,” Lemon finally agreed.

“OK,” Zoe echoed, looking somewhat shocked. Then she turned to George, adding “Can you please help her into my office? Lemon, I’ll be right with you.”

And before Lemon really knew what was happening, she was alone with George again and he was half-lifting her up onto the table. His hands stayed around her waist just a second too long as he looked at her with what seemed to be sincere concern in his eyes.

“Do you want me to stay with you?”

Lemon searched her feelings. There was a vague sense of nostalgia, similar to what she felt when looking at the pictures from years ago. A bit of relief that she didn’t have to try so hard to make everything perfect anymore. If she was entirely honest, a strong desire to say ‘yes, please stay with me,’ and still a great deal of love warring with the pain. Quite a bit of exhaustion with the whole situation, really. And ultimately, overwhelmingly, a sense of freedom as she answered truthfully:

“No.”

“Oh, OK,” George responded after a barely noticeable pause. 

“Thank you. I’ll be fine on my own.”

It was then that things snapped into place and Lemon finally realized that she would be fine on her own. Part of her, maybe even most of her, didn’t want him back. Not like this, not with how things had ended between them, not while she was still trying to figure out what she wanted from her life, and definitely not until George made up for the way he had thrown away her heart. 

She was still going to break them up, of course. If not for herself anymore, then for Wade. 

Zoe walked into the room and George rather obviously took a step away from her. He backed away toward the door as Zoe, with an extremely strained smile, stepped closer to the exam table.

So maybe a large part of Lemon’s motivation at this point was revenge, pure and simple. For the principle of the thing.

“George,” she called out sweetly just before he left the room. He turned and faced her inquisitively. She gave him an innocent smile and added, “Could you please ask Addy to call Wade and ask him to pick me up?”

She didn’t know if George’s dumbfounded expression or the sudden stiffening she felt from Zoe was the better reward.

**

“I can’t look. I can’t,” Wade objected.

Lemon stared at her own project, equally unable to turn to the last page and find the grade she’d receive for the class. For some reason, it felt like this one moment would tell her if she was on the right path, if she could actually _do_ this, or if this was just another stupid, unrealistic dream she’d have to give up, like her mother coming home someday or George Tucker marrying her. And worse even, because she would be solely to blame if – she shook her head quickly and nearly ripped the front page of her report as she opened it. A moment later, Lemon sighed in relief. An A-. After so long out of school, she’d take it. She looked up at Wade again, only to find him still immobile. 

“You want me to look?” she offered.

“No,” Wade answered quickly. “I don’t.”

“Then…”

Wade shook his head. “I can’t move.”

“Wade!” Lemon yelled, unable to stop her laughter.

He finally flipped to the back of his own project, giving no further reaction as he looked at the teacher’s comments. He didn’t move; he didn’t say anything; he didn’t even blink. Lemon couldn’t stand the suspense.

“Well?”

“I got,” Wade choked out. He cleared his throat. “I got a B+.”

“Wade!” Lemon exclaimed. “That’s really good!”

Wade fell back against the wall, laughing in stunned disbelief and stressed nerves. “I passed,” he finally said.

“You know what this means?” Lemon said, smiling as she looped her hand around the crook of his elbow and began to lead him down the hall. “We’re well on our way to becoming business owners.”

Wade glanced at her. “I don’t think it’s quite that easy,” he disagreed.

“Well no,” Lemon agreed with a shrug. “But it’s a start. And you know, now you have to take that class with me, the marketing and advertising one.”

Wade groaned in complaint, tilting his head back. “We just finished a class.”

“This one’s only four weeks!”

“You never give up, do you?”

“Never,” Lemon said with a smile. “You haven’t realized that about me by now?”

“Oh, trust me. I’ve realized.”

“Well, then, you won’t be surprised when I say I’ve had an idea.”

Wade looked at her curiously. “What’s that?”

“You’ll see,” she replied enigmatically.


	6. Chapter 6

“OK, ready?”

“Yes,” Wade grumbled, still slightly annoyed at the stubbed toe he had just received because of Lemon’s insistence that he should be blindfolded. 

That annoyance only increased when she accidentally pulled out a few strands of hair as she untied the handkerchief. Or attempted to. Instead, she ended up pulling the knot painfully tight.

“Dammit, Lemon!” Wade cursed, reaching up and pulling the blindfold off his head with a sharp tug. And then he stared around the building, speechless.

After a moment to regroup, Lemon spread her arms out and sang “Ta-daaaaaa.” Wade fought a feeling of déjà vu.

“What is this?”

Lemon lowered her arms and stared at him with something between disappointment and frustration. “It’s a building, Wade.”

“I know that, Lemon. Why are we here?”

“It’s…it’s for sale.”

“I know that too, actually.”

“You do?”

Wade stepped farther into the room, struggling against the rather unexpected feelings being in there again caused in him. He didn’t realize he was still so angry and disappointed about how everything had gone down a couple months ago.

“Why are we here?” he asked again.

Lemon inhaled. “I think we should buy it. It could easily divide into two sections, and our hours wouldn’t overlap much so we wouldn’t even disturb each other’s business.”

Wade faced her, a look of shock on his face; Lemon simply smiled exaggeratedly wide and nodded to demonstrate she was serious. Wade looked around the room again.

His brain shouted at him that he wasn’t ready, it wasn’t time yet, he needed more…something. But his subconscious was already working as he answered.

“Peggy won’t give me a loan.”

“Peggy’s a former Belle,” Lemon reminded him. “She can’t turn me down.”

“I can’t,” Wade paused, slightly embarrassed. “I can’t afford the down payment.”

“Well,” Lemon suggested slowly, in an obvious attempt not to offend him, “How about I front you? I think you’re good for it. Besides, this place needs a lot of work and you’ll obviously have to take the lead on that end of things.”

Wade breathed out, hands on his hips and surveying the room again. Lifting one hand and rubbing it down his face, he thought. And then he turned to Lemon.

“OK. Let’s do it.”

**

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Zoe looked up at the, she had to admit, somewhat unexpected question. She and George usually didn’t talk much when they met for breakfast. George would review his schedule for the day while Zoe waited for the caffeine to kick in. She never was and never would be a morning person. In fact, she kind of hated that George always wanted to have breakfast together.

And she didn’t want to think about the fact that they still had to _meet_ instead of just being together in the mornings. The glacial pace of their relationship was very high school. And yet neither one of them pushed for more than some hot-and-heavy make-out sessions. Zoe was incredibly frustrated. At least…that’s what she thought she was feeling, at any rate.

“Um, nothing. It’s too early to be thinking anything.”

George laughed lightly. “It’s not that early,” he disagreed. “I bet you had to get up lots earlier for your commute in New York. I know I did.”

Zoe tried not to sigh. She never would have guessed it could possibly happen, but she was officially bored with talking about New York. Thankfully – well, not thankfully, of course, because it was George and she wanted to spend as much time as possible with him now that they were finally together – but, thankfully, she happened to see Lavon walk past the window of the café. Zoe stood abruptly, and George looked up at her in surprise.

“I’ve got to talk to Lavon; I just remembered.”

“Oh, OK, well – ” 

Zoe didn’t wait for him to say anything. She barely waited long enough for him to stand up. Leaning closer, she gave him a quick kiss to the cheek and hurried out the door.

“Lavon!”

He turned around and when he spotted her, gave her a huge smile. “Morning, Zoe. Have a nice breakfast?”

“Uh…yep,” she replied as she looped her hand around Lavon’s elbow. “Though I missed you. Breakfast doesn’t really feel like breakfast unless it’s the three of us around your kitchen table.”

Lavon snickered, nodding in agreement as they turned at the intersection and headed towards the practice. 

“How are you?” Zoe asked, suddenly realizing that between work and George she hadn’t spoken to her friend in several days.

“ _Fan_ tastic,” Lavon answered her quickly, his smile growing even wider.

“I can tell! What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing. Just thinking about breakfast.”

Zoe looked at him skeptically.

“I had a good one this morning too. Even though there was only two of us.”

“I guess so. What’d you and Wade – ”

“Not Wade. Haven’t seen him in a couple days.”

“Oh…well, then, who – you dog!”

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell,” Lavon observed haughtily. 

“Tancy?!”

Lavon shrugged. Zoe exhaled, staring out at the road as she shook her head.

“You know, I was kind of surprised at first. I couldn’t really see it. But I don’t think you’ve been this happy since I’ve known you, and that’s saying something.”

“I am happy,” Lavon agreed.

“I can tell. You actually seem a little crazy-foolish about it. I’m almost expecting you to start skipping.”

Lavon threw his head back in laughter. “That’s what you should expect from someone falling in love.”

“Mmm,” Zoe said noncommittally. She fought a feeling of sadness that the circumstances of her and George getting together didn’t allow for that kind of freedom. She wondered if she’d ever experience the flirting and passion, all those extraordinarily heightened emotions of trust and fear that went with letting your guard down with someone, letting them in. She wondered if she’d even recognize it happening. Or acknowledge it already might have happened, added a tiny voice in the back of her head which she promptly forced silent again.

“I’m happy for you,” she finally said.

Lavon glanced at her sideways. After a long moment, he said, “Wish I could say the same.”

Zoe furrowed her brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I just…,” Lavon said with a sigh. “Neither George, Wade, Lemon or you are skipping down any streets, I’ve noticed.”

**

“I feel kind of…sick,” Wade observed as he and Lemon walked out of the real estate office.

“Yeah,” Lemon nodded, equally dazed. “Me too.”

“We just…”

“Bought a building. For our businesses.”

Wade looked over at Lemon, who met his gaze. After a moment of staring at each other, they both burst into laughter.

“Oh my God, Wade. I can’t believe it.”

Wade just shook his head. “I will pay you back, you know. For the down payment.”

“I know,” Lemon said with a nod. “I’m not worried.”

“Where’d you get the cash anyway? Trust fund? Savings bond?”

“No,” Lemon said slowly, clearly somewhat embarrassed. “All of my accounts are shared ones with Daddy, actually. Well, I guess you could say they’re his accounts and I have access to them. I’ve never…really made any money of my own.”

Wade didn’t say anything for a moment. “So…where – ”

“I sold something, OK?”

Wade stopped walking and turned to stare at Lemon. “What’d you sell?”

“Some jewelry,” Lemon said, sighing loudly as she stepped around him and continued walking. “A couple old necklaces and bracelets and…things.”

“Your mom’s?”

“No.”

“Then why are – ”

“And my engagement ring!”

Wade grabbed Lemon’s arm and pulled her over to the nearest bench. He dragged her down to sit with him and stared at her. Lemon avoided his eyes, looking around erratically as her breathing turned ragged. Wade reached up, placing one hand on her shoulder and cupping the side of her chin with the other. He forced her to make eye contact.

“You OK?”

Lemon exhaled sharply. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”

Wade didn’t reply, his silence indicating his skepticism. 

“Really, Wade. It’s fitting in a way, isn’t it? Using my old life to start my new one. I’ve wasted my whole – just years, chasing after that fairy tale ending, wanting to be the wife and mother _my_ mother wasn’t. And I was happy. I would have been…happy. Maybe it’s not the modern thing to say. Maybe I’m not as sophisticated as Zoe Hart with her fancy education and career. But what would have been wrong with that life? Why didn’t he want it with me? Why didn’t – why didn’t she?”

“OK, Lemon,” Wade tried to interrupt, feeling very much out of his league. “You’re – ”

“And it’s not them! It’s not; it’s me! I wasn’t enough! He wanted someone else! And she had a – a new child, a better –”

Lemon broke off, sobbing hysterically into her palms. Wade patted her back awkwardly.

“Look,” he said slowly. “Let’s go to the pawn shop or wherever you sold it and get your ring back. We can figure something else out.”

“I don’t want it back,” Lemon all but shouted.

“OK,” Wade agreed quickly, before adding in confusion, “What do you want?”

Lemon finally stopped crying. She inhaled slowly and sat up straight. “I want to stop feeling like I’m losing my mind.”

“Well…I don’t know how to help you with that. Unless you have a notebook.”

“What?” Lemon turned to stare at him in confusion.

“Just – it’ll help, actually. It’s a good way to try and get over someone.”

Lemon sighed, then sniffled. “It’s not George,” she confessed. “Not completely. It’s my mom. I think I need to talk to her finally.”

“Yeah, but Lemon, your mom’s gone.”

“No, Wade. I know exactly where she is.”


	7. Chapter 7

Zoe fidgeted nervously, her eyes flitting between the clock and the door to the practice. There were five minutes left. Nobody could walk in. Or at least, nobody could walk in wanting to see Brick. She was just barely at 30 percent, and while she hadn’t had any trouble in recent quarters – either in making the quota or from Brick – these last few months had been different. Several of her patients went back to Brick, out of loyalty to Lemon. And she suspected that Brick would be more than willing to kick her out of the practice these days.

Zoe glanced at the clock again. Three minutes. She exhaled slowly, trying to calm down. She couldn’t lose her half of the practice, not now. Not after everything.

The front door opened and Zoe’s heart skipped a beat.

It was Brick.

Zoe collapsed back in her chair, closing her eyes in relief. When she opened them again, she was surprised to see Brick fighting a smile as he stepped into his office.

“Just me,” he called out.

Zoe didn’t know how to answer, and when he came out of the office a moment later with a liquor bottle and two glasses in his hand, she didn’t know if she would have been able to say anything at all. She stared at her colleague incredulously as he poured them both drinks.

“Congratulations on a successful quarter, Dr. Hart,” he observed.

Zoe cautiously reached out and picked up the glass he offered her. A crazy part of her wondered if he was trying to poison her.

“Drink up,” Brick instructed.

She finally gave in, knocking back a mouthful and making a face at the burn of the alcohol as it went down her throat. 

“OK,” she said, her voice slightly rough. “What’s going on?”

“It’s the end of the quarter.”

“Yeah, and…I didn’t think you’d want to see me make my 30 percent.”

Brick sighed. “It’s complicated between us right now.”

“Very complicated,” Zoe agreed.

“I admit, part of me has found it difficult to work with you these past couple months. That part of me would have been happy to have a reason to ask you to leave.”

Zoe wasn’t surprised by that comment. She _was_ surprised by how much it hurt. She nodded in understanding, staring at the counter as she found herself unable to look at Brick.

“But,” Brick continued. “We do make a surprisingly good team.”

Zoe didn’t say anything; she merely blinked quickly to clear her eyes of the tears that had suddenly filled them.

“And besides, I promised Lemon that I wouldn’t kick you out, even if you didn’t meet your numbers.”

Zoe finally made eye contact with Brick, trying to make sense of what he had just said.

“Huh?”

“She said if you’re going to make a good man as happy as he deserves to be, you need to stay in town.”

“That’s…rather…charitable of her,” Zoe said slowly. 

“Well,” Brick mused. “She’s a better person than you give her credit for. And if she can forgive you, so can I.”

He stood up then, picking up the bottle and heading back towards his office.

“Wait,” Zoe called after him. “When did she make you promise that?”

“I don’t know, a couple days ago. Maybe a week.”

Zoe stared at him. “And you let me freak out all this time?!”

Brick shot a mischievous smile at her over his shoulder. “I had to punish you a little bit, Dr. Hart.”

_September_

Wade led Lemon into his house, watching her apprehensively. Lemon looked at him and laughed softly at his expression.

“I’m done crying.”

“Oh, thank God,” Wade breathed out. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Lemon collapsed onto the couch and waited for Wade to join her. Sighing, she turned to face him and gave him a slight smile.

“It was…awkward. I yelled a lot.”

“That’s so unlike you, Lemon.”

She pinched him half-heartedly, and Wade smirked.

“She tried to justify it, you know? She told me how she couldn’t live a lie anymore, and wasn’t it better in the end to leave us instead of growing to resent us all even more?”

“What’d you say?”

“I said she was a selfish, cowardly child who didn’t care who she hurt as long as she got what she wanted when she wanted it. That I wasn’t going to let her ruin my life anymore, and the fact that we didn’t and would never have a relationship was her loss, not mine.”

“Impressive.”

“And I might have broken a dish or two.”

Wade threw his head back in laughter. “Reminding me once again to never, ever piss you off.”

Lemon smiled softly. Then she looked over at him before hesitantly leaning against him. Wade took the cue and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

“Why are you being so good to me, Wade?”

“We’re business partners now. Can’t afford to have you go off the rails.”

Lemon didn’t say anything, waiting for him to turn serious. Finally, Wade shrugged.

“You’re not the only one who’s felt that way, you know. Like – like you’re not wanted, not good enough. I think we understand each other more now than we ever have. At least…now you know what I’ve felt like all my life.”

Lemon rubbed her hand along Wade’s chest, snuggling closer. “I’m sorry, Wade. I know I probably made you feel that way a lot.”

Wade swallowed. “Honestly, Lemon. You never really bugged me all that much. I was used to you. I know how people think of – my family.”

“I don’t remember your mom very well,” Lemon observed quietly. “I remember she was beautiful. And laughed a lot.”

“That’s about all I remember too. That and when she and my dad would dance around the kitchen. I’d sneak out of bed and watch them. I musta been five or six. My dad never drank back then. But after she died…well, like you said. I wasn’t enough.”

“We both grew up without mamas. I never really thought about that before.”

Wade lifted a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I try not to think about it much at all. Just lived my life. It worked pretty well for me.”

“Until…sorry. I’ll stop bringing her – it up.”

“Until Zoe,” Wade finished the sentence for her. 

“Sorry,” Lemon repeated.

Wade was silent for a long time. Finally, he quietly admitted, “We slept together.”

“Really?” Lemon twisted around to look up at him, and Wade nodded.

“The night of your wedding.”

“No!”

“Yep.”

“And she just…wow.”

“Yeah, well. I didn’t help matters much. The next morning, when I found out, I just waited. For her to say something. You know, like she didn’t care that he was single. That she had made a different choice. But she didn’t say anything so I made the choice for her.”

“Oh _Wade_.”

“Obviously she didn’t disagree with me.”

Lemon sighed.

**

Zoe tried to focus on George’s voice over the phone. She was finding it difficult though, considering she was also staring out the window watching Wade’s place. He and Lemon had disappeared again that day, and they just got back about an hour ago. Zoe had seen them walk inside carrying what looked like books, but she couldn’t really tell for certain with the distance. All she knew was that Lemon hadn’t left yet. It was getting quite late. Zoe wondered what they were doing over there, even as she tried to convince herself she didn’t care. She _didn’t_ care.

“Oh, good grief,” George muttered.

“What is it?” Zoe asked, still distracted.

George sighed. “Just going through my mail. I got an invitation to my high school reunion. I can’t believe it’s here already.”

With that, Zoe forgot momentarily about anything else including the fact that George couldn’t see the confused expression that sprung to her face.

“Um…did you get held back or something?”

“No,” George responded, sounding slightly offended.

“But…you’re my age.”

“Yeah. Oh! No, we have our reunions every thirteen and a half years.”

Zoe rubbed at her eye, feeling a Bluebell-induced headache coming on. “Why?”

George laughed lightly. “The new high school – which, yes, everyone still calls it the _new_ high school – was built in 1931 and the first class graduated the following spring. Now, ten years after that, all the men and some of the women were over fighting or volunteering for World War II. They couldn’t get a large enough group together until people started returning from the war. So they had their reunion November ’45. And ever since then, in honor of that class, we have our reunions every 13 and a half years.”

Zoe smiled softly to herself. “Bluebell can’t do anything normal, can it?”

Apparently her tone didn’t convey the actual degree of fondness she had started to develop for the town’s quirks, because George just replied with an aggravated sigh.

“Come on, Zoe,” he said.

“What? I – ”

“I thought you wanted to stay here. No one made you.”

“George!”

“I don’t insult New York.”

Zoe groaned. “No. No, you sure don’t. You seem to like New York even more than you like me.”

There was a brief pause. “Well, I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean, but I think maybe we should say good night.”

Zoe exhaled and tried not to roll her eyes. “Yeah. Good night.”

She hung up before George could say anything else and dropped the phone onto her couch. She walked over to her bed and fell back onto it. She wasn’t entirely sure what had just happened or why she felt so out-of-sorts about everything. She was just _so_ tired. 

She sighed and tried not to wish she had Wade to talk to. He could be difficult, but she never felt like she had to watch what she said around him either. He didn’t judge her for not getting Bluebell all the time. Hell, he usually found it amusing, watching her try to fit in. He’d help Lavon give her hints and tips on how to do so, even as he teased her. He probably thought this 13 year reunion thing was stupid too.

Zoe fought sudden tears. She missed her friend. She just wanted to talk to him. She didn’t care about Lemon or George right now. She didn’t care that she couldn’t quite get the memory of her night with Wade out of her head. She didn’t care that everything felt so messed up. She just needed someone in her corner again, someone who might be all infuriating and pushy and rude but who still – 

Zoe stood up abruptly. She walked around her place, turning on every appliance, hoping that it would work and Wade would figure out what she was trying to say when…Zoe waited. And when nothing happened, she remembered the replaced fuse box. 

And she remembered that Wade didn’t want anything to do with her anymore, anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

“Are you gonna grumble all day?”

“Hell, yes, I am,” Wade shot back at Lemon. He angled past her, stepping outside and throwing some debris into the dumpster just outside the new building. “I’m _sore_.”

“It’s not like I meant to fall asleep on your couch.”

“Well, you didn’t. _I_ fell asleep on my couch. You fell asleep on me, and now I can barely move.”

Lemon sighed. She walked back into the front room and started picking up more garbage from the ground.

“Course,” Wade added, “that’s the most action I’ve gotten in months, so maybe I shouldn’t complain.”

Lemon smacked the back of his head, then ignored his laughter as she led him outside again.

**

Zoe and George strolled across the center of the town square. Zoe wanted to pretend they were enjoying some comfortable silence, but truthfully, it wasn’t all that comfortable. George had asked her if they were OK, and Zoe had dismissed his concerns. Frankly, though, she was still kind of annoyed with how quickly he had become angry with her when she wasn’t even doing what he accused her of. 

And then things just got even more awkward when they ran into Magnolia.

“Hi George,” she said in an overly polite greeting. “Hi Dr. Hart.”

“Magnolia, how are you?” George asked.

Zoe inwardly sighed. In New York, that would have been a rhetorical question and they could have kept walking and not deal at all with the giant elephant participating in the conversation with them. But this was Bluebell, and there was no such thing as a rhetorical question. Magnolia would have to stop and answer, then ask after George’s family, which of course meant he’d ask after Lemon and Brick and then Zoe would want to scream.

So maybe she wasn’t completely in love with Bluebell yet.

**

Wade threw a piece of wood in the dumpster, then stretched as he tried to get the kink in his neck to finally loosen. Twisting around, he glanced over his shoulder and froze.

“Crap,” he muttered.

“What is it now?” Lemon asked as she joined him by the dumpster.

“Zoe and George. 7 o’clock.”

Lemon surreptitiously looked over at them. “Oh God, they’re talking to Magnolia. And now they’re looking over here!”

“This day keeps getting better and better, huh? Well, I suppose if we’re going to do this, we oughta do it right.”

“Do what?”

Wade rolled his eyes. “You know what. It was your idea, remember?”

“Um, you know what, Wade? I was thinking maybe that wasn’t – ”

She broke off when Wade stepped closer and crowded into her personal space. Lemon laughed nervously, self-consciously, a little louder than she intended.

And then he was kissing her.

**

The sound of something clanging loudly into a metal container caught Zoe’s attention and she focused on the source of the noise, grateful for the distraction from George and Magnolia’s conversation.

Well, temporarily grateful at any rate, a feeling which dissipated as soon as she saw that the sound had been made my Wade and Lemon working on…something.

“What are they doing over there?” George asked.

The question surprised Zoe, who hadn’t realized he had noticed the other two as well. Zoe turned to see him staring intently across the street. 

Magnolia spared a glance. “Oh, I don’t even know. Lemon’s been working on some secret project. That must be part of it. She never tells me anything anymore.”

None of them said anything else, because just then, they all watched Wade lean in and kiss Lemon. Zoe felt her stomach drop as she exhaled sharply. She knew – obviously she had known there was something going on between them. But to _see_ it like that, to have the proof right in front of her. It hurt, and she couldn’t even come up with some way to downplay it or rationalize it in terms of her relationship with George. 

“But I guess that answers the question of why she didn’t come home last night,” Magnolia observed, one eyebrow raised in sly entertainment.

George seemed incapable of answering. In fact, he looked rather pale and almost sick. Zoe had to take the lead in getting them out of the situation. She blurted about five different pleasantries at Magnolia, dug her fingernails into George’s arm and pulled him down the street.

Unfortunately, the path towards the bakery where they had intended to get a snack took them directly past Wade and Lemon.

**

The kiss wasn’t that long, and it was hardly Wade’s best effort, but he hoped it had done whatever Lemon thought it would do. For what it was worth, he still thought it was a dumb idea and he was more than ready to end the kiss when he felt her palm flatten against his chest and push him away. 

“How was that, you think?”

Lemon shook her head and then snuck a glance back at Zoe. She couldn’t bring herself to look for George’s reaction. “I don’t know. I can’t tell.”

“Dammit, I told you it wasn’t gonna do anything.”

“Yes, well – oh my goodness, they’re coming over here,” Lemon exclaimed quietly, ignoring Wade’s desperate objections as she left him behind and went back into the building.

Wade awkwardly made several attempts at moving in different directions, ultimately deciding to just focus on cleaning up around the dumpster and pretending he didn’t even notice the other two. Unfortunately, that ploy didn’t work very well, as Zoe overenthusiastically greeted him when they got close enough.

Wade looked up, pretending he was startled by the interruption. Zoe was looking at him with a wide, manic grin that kind of creeped him out, but not as much as the death glare George was shooting him.

“Oh. Hey, Zoe. Tucker.”

“How are you?”

Before Wade could answer, George’s fist flew out and hit him square in the nose. Wade’s head jolted back and tears sprung involuntarily to his eyes at the contact. He stumbled back several steps, trying to stay standing. Once he managed to regain his balance, he immediately bent forward and cupped his hands around his nose.

“Son of a bitch!” he yelled. 

Some part of him could hear Zoe shouting and the sound of Lemon’s feet as she rushed back outside. But his ears were overwhelmingly filled with the sound of his racing pulse as the anger rose inside him. Seriously? _Seriously?_

He finally managed to stand up and focus on George. “You gotta be kidding me,” he said, making a face as the blood from his nose reached his lips.

If anyone was going to be throwing punches over this whole mess… Wade moved then, making it about two steps in George’s direction before both Lemon and Zoe stepped in the middle and stopped him. Lemon turned again almost immediately, advancing on George angrily while Zoe looked up at Wade in concern, lifting one hand in a cautious attempt to assess the damage. 

Wade jerked his head back and to the side, avoiding her touch. “I’m fine; I’m fine,” he said.

“Yeah, I can tell from all that blood,” Zoe disagreed. “Come on. My office.”

She didn’t even turn to look at George, let alone say goodbye, as she led Wade away. But he was probably too busy arguing with Lemon to even notice.

**

“Well, it’s not broken,” Zoe informed him quietly, as she carefully cleaned up his nose. “But you’ll probably have a pretty decent shiner for a couple days.”

Wade grunted, holding himself incredibly still. He told himself it was because he didn’t want any sort of accident to cause even more damage. He really wanted to believe that. But he also knew it was partly – okay, mostly – because all he could think about was the last time they were alone together in a quiet room, the last time Zoe’s hands tenderly ran over his skin, the last time she was so close to him he could feel her breath.

It was all he could do not to reach out and pull her into a kiss.

It didn’t help when she suddenly dropped her professional bedside manner and shot him a vulnerable look.

“I’m sorry, Wade.”

“Not your fault,” he replied quickly, hoping like hell to avoid this conversation.

“No, I know, but…” she trailed off, and they stared at each other for a moment.

Wade couldn’t take it anymore. “We done?” he asked, swinging his legs off the side of the table farther away from Zoe and pulling himself up.

“Oh…yeah. Yeah, not much else I can do. Unless you want me to drive you home or something?”

“I could be half-dead and I wouldn’t let you drive my car, Zoe.”

The attempt at a joke failed to lighten the mood in the room, and Wade was somewhat surprised when she turned away from him before her next statement.

“Lemon’s probably waiting, anyway. She can get you home.”

Wade tilted his head in confusion at the unmistakable bitterness of her tone. 

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Probably.”

Zoe turned toward him again, that too-wide grin back on her face, but she didn’t quite meet his eyes.

“So you two, huh? Never would have expected that!”

Wade didn’t have a response for that. Much to his surprise, Zoe continued by asking him, with an obvious trace of exasperation, “What are you even doing with her, Wade?”

Maybe it was his nearly-broken nose. Maybe it was the fact that Zoe looked so damn cute in her lab coat, it wasn’t fair. Maybe it was disbelief that she apparently thought she had any right to ask. Maybe it was exhaustion with the whole situation. Or maybe it was because he was getting tired of everyone in town acting like Lemon slumming it with him was the craziest thing that ever happened in Bluebell. But the anger he had felt earlier when George punched him, the certainty he had felt that _he_ actually had the right to be angry, came rushing back. 

“What do you care?” he asked, turning on her.

Zoe looked taken aback for a moment. “I don’t know,” she replied quickly. “I just think – I mean, she’s obviously just using you, Wade. You deserve better than that.”

“Using me?”

“As a rebound.”

“Well, takes one to know one,” he shot back in what he could easily admit was not his best comeback. 

Zoe’s mouth opened and closed. She was clearly speechless, and a not-so-small, petty part of Wade took that as a victory.

“Lemon and I know exactly what we are to each other,” he continued. “No chance of either of us getting the wrong idea about things.”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Zoe said softly.

Wade stared at her incredulously, then scoffed. “You never cared about that before, Doc. No point in starting now.”

And with that, Wade walked out of the exam room. He nearly ran into George, who was waiting in the hallway. George stepped closer to him, one hand slightly outstretched in a calming gesture.

“Wade, I – ”

“Out of my way, Tucker,” Wade warned. He stepped around him and walked out of the practice without looking back.

**

Zoe stared at the first aid kit in her hand, trying to figure out what had just happened but not really able to think coherently at all. Everything had happened so fast, and her emotions were out of control. She couldn’t even put names to the feelings that had coursed through her starting with George’s punch right on through her unexpected fight with Wade. The last identifiable feeling she remembered was the undeniable jealousy she experienced when Wade had kissed Lemon.

Zoe sighed. Everything was so messed up.

As if to punctuate that realization, George knocked on the still-open door. Zoe turned to face him, wanting to feel annoyed by his behavior or hurt by the fact that he still clearly had some attachment to Lemon or something, anything beyond resignation and a vague sense of regret.

In different circumstances, she really did believe that she and George could have been perfect together. In a world where he wasn’t still in love with Lemon and she hadn’t ever allowed herself to acknowledge that there was more to her relationship with Wade beyond aggravating each other and admiring his body.

“Zoe, I am so sorry,” George said. “I can’t even explain it; it was like this _primal_ \- ”

“George, what are we even doing?” Zoe interrupted.

“What do you mean?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

Zoe sighed. “I mean, it shouldn’t be this hard to make a relationship work. I’m no expert, but I think, especially at this point, we should only be concerned about each other, only have eyes for each other...Something’s missing.”

George sighed, looking down at the ground. He shook his head and opened his mouth to speak. Zoe beat him to it.

“I think that _something_ is the right person.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. Finally, George offered her a sad, resigned smile, and Zoe nodded in understanding.

“There’s no way she’d take me back,” he pointed out.

“And he hates me. Doesn’t mean we should just give up.”

“I suppose,” George mused, before doing a slight double take. “Wait – what do you – who hates you?”

Zoe put a hand to her face and started laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all.


	9. Chapter 9

“Zoe! Zoe!”

Zoe turned, stopped and waited for Rose to catch up to her. Judging by her expression and the urgency with which she had called her name, it was obvious what Rose wanted to talk to her about.

“Is it true?” Rose hissed when she got close enough to Zoe.

“Is what true?”

“Come on, Zoe. Did George punch Wade?”

Zoe sighed. She faced forward and started walking again. Moments later, she looked over at Rose, now keeping pace with her. 

“Yes,” Zoe confirmed.

“I – ” Rose broke off, speechless. After a moment, she gave Zoe a sympathetic expression. “I’m sure he didn’t mean – I mean, he probably – well, that is, you…”

Zoe smiled at her friend’s awkward attempts at consolation but quickly took her out of her misery. “Nope. There’s really no other explanation. Another man kissed Lemon, so George punched him.”

“So…what are you gonna do?” Rose asked.

“Break up, of course. We already did.” 

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

Zoe shook her head. “It is what it is. I can’t even really blame him.”

Rose tilted her head inquisitively.

“When I saw them,” Zoe explained, “I kind of wanted to claw Lemon’s eyes out.”

Rose blinked and Zoe stopped walking again. She exhaled loudly, finally confessing “I have feelings for Wade.” She squeezed her eyes shut, nervously waiting for Rose’s reaction.

After a brief pause, Rose replied, “Du-uh, Zoe.”

Zoe’s eyes flew open and she stared in shock as Rose’s shoulders dropped and stress just melted away from her body. Her relief was almost palpable.

“Huh?” Zoe asked.

Rose threw her hands up and started walking again. “Now I don’t have to try to feel bad for you and George.”

“Wait…what?” Zoe asked, hurrying after Rose. “You mean you knew I – ”

“It is kinda obvious, Zoe.”

“It wasn't to me!”

Rose shook her head.

“Why didn’t you say something?!”

“Would you have listened?”

Zoe scowled. “No, probably not,” she admitted.

**

After the revelatory conversation with Rose and an awkward day at work avoiding Addy – thankfully, Brick was off on a fishing trip – Zoe finally arrived back at the plantation. But she didn’t go home; instead she went directly to Lavon’s. She wanted some advice. This time she might even listen to it.

“Hey Lavon,” she greeted her friend as she walked inside.

“Hey Zoe.” His smile was encouraging and supportive. It was clear he too had heard what had happened the previous day. 

Zoe put her purse on the table. She took a deep breath.

“Yes, George punched Wade. Yes, we broke up. Yes, I’m fine.”

A pause. “You sure?”

Zoe nodded. “I’m sure. In fact,” she continued, sitting down at the counter next to Lavon. “I was hoping you might give me some advice.”

Lavon immediately turned suspicious, and Zoe put on her most charming smile in response. 

“Advice about what?”

“Well, I was just wondering…what you think I might do about Wade?”

Lavon groaned, his head tilting back in exasperation. “What about him?” he muttered at the ceiling.

“Well, the thing is I think I might have feelings for him,” Zoe admitted in a rush. “And I don’t know what to do about that.”

“He’s with Lemon now,” Lavon reminded her firmly, dropping his head forward to look at her again. “So…perfect timing as usual, Zoe.”

“Look, I know. OK? I _know_ that I’ve handled this all wrong. I know I’ve hurt him.”

“Hurt him? Zoe, he’s been half in love with you since the first time he saw you. You broke his heart. Repeatedly.”

“It’s not entirely my fault,” Zoe objected. “He’s been a total – ”

“Both of you have been acting like 7th graders with crushes,” Lavon interrupted, agreeing. “Which is why – Zoe, if you’re serious, just _step up_. Be an adult. Decide what you want from him once and for all and then just _ask_ him for it. And accept his answer.”

Zoe didn’t reply for a long moment. Finally, she nodded. “You’re right.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for the advice.”

Zoe stood up and headed towards the door.

“Are you actually gonna listen to it?” Lavon asked, exasperation underpinning his words.

**

Zoe headed directly over to Wade’s place. If she was going to do this, she had to do it now, before she overthought or allowed herself to second-guess her decision. She didn’t know exactly what she was going to say or, as Lavon had suggested she figure out first, exactly what she wanted in a relationship with Wade. She just knew she wanted one. 

It really shouldn’t have taken her this long to figure out what her heart was trying to tell her; doctors were supposed to be smart, after all. And up until recently, she was even going to be a _heart specialist_. It was, frankly, ironic.

When she arrived at Wade’s place, Zoe took a deep breath and exhaled it, trying to calm down. And then she knocked before she could change her mind. A yell was the only response and Zoe interpreted that as a “come in.” She pulled the door open and headed inside, coming to an immediate stop when she saw Lemon sitting on the couch next to Wade and the remains of dinner spread out on the coffee table in front of them.

“Hi,” Zoe managed to say.

“Hey,” Wade replied, looking slightly confused by her presence. “What are you doing here?”

Lemon looked at him, and the vaguely exasperated expression on her face at his question only added to Zoe’s discombobulation.

“I’m – I came to see how you were doing. Your nose, I mean.”

“Fine,” Wade said slowly.

Lemon leaned forward and picked up her purse. It looked for a second like she rolled her eyes, but Zoe couldn’t really see her face and that reaction didn’t really make sense anyway.

“I better be going,” Lemon announced cheerfully, and Zoe wondered why exactly she apparently was the only person not thrown by being in the same room after what happened. “He’s all yours.”

With that she leaned closer to Wade, resting one hand on his torso as she whispered something in his ear. He glared at her and just barely shook his head. Zoe felt too incredibly uncomfortable to even wonder what that was all about.

“Bye now,” Lemon told Wade, her voice entirely too chipper. Thankfully it returned to the cool, falsely polite tone Zoe was used to when she added “Dr. Hart” as she walked past her.

Zoe stared after her for a moment, then faced Wade again. He was still looking at her like she was a Martian or something. Obviously, Zoe knew things had been strained between them lately – and especially the last time they saw each other – but was it so weird to think she might be concerned about him?

Zoe shook her head clear of those thoughts and stepped over to the couch. She took the seat just vacated by Lemon and lifted her hand towards Wade’s face.

“You’re really OK?” she asked.

“Yes,” Wade replied. Her fingers made contact with the puffy bruise under his eyes, and he jerked his head back, hissing. “Ow.”

“Looks worse than it is,” Zoe observed.

“Uh, thanks.”

Zoe briefly squeezed her eyes shut. “No, I didn’t mean…” She sighed. “Do you need some painkillers or something?”

“Nah, I’m good. Lemon brought some aspirin with dinner.”

It felt like a punch to her gut, and Zoe looked away, unable to keep eye contact. “She’s taking good care of you then.”

She sensed Wade’s shrug. “Yeah, I guess.”

And just then, Zoe realized why Lavon told her to stop and think things over, to be an adult. Because she _had_ been running around all day, wanting to tell anyone who’d listen about her feelings, now that she finally figured them out. She was faced now with the reminder that she was too late. Everything wouldn’t work out perfectly just because she decided she was ready.

The truly amazing and horrible realization was that the new way she felt about Wade, or at least the way she was finally acknowledging, _was_ real. And that real love sucked more than she ever thought it could. Because she finally understood in a way she hadn’t when she was chasing after George what it meant to want someone else’s happiness more than you wanted something for yourself. After everything she had done to Wade, all the times she had dismissed and ignored and hurt him, this was something she could do. It would even be following Lavon’s advice, because she would be telling Wade what she wanted from him and for him, even if it wasn’t the entire truth.

“I’m sorry,” Zoe finally said, proud that her voice only shook slightly.

Wade tilted his head, raising one eyebrow. He laughed slightly, clearly confused and a little suspicious by those words coming out of her mouth.

“About what I said yesterday. About you and Lemon. It wasn’t my place, and I don’t…I want you to be happy. I wish you two all the best.”

The traces of amused shock had dropped off Wade’s face. He stared back at her, then swallowed. “Oh. OK. Thanks, I guess.”

Zoe stood quickly. She had to get out of there. “Anyway. I hope we can start to get along again.”

“Yeah,” Wade replied, his voice flatter than she ever remembered hearing it.

“Bye,” she said quickly.

Zoe hurried out of the house; she was proud she made it halfway to her own place before she had to lift a hand to wipe at her tears. Her prediction that Bluebell would turn her into a better person was apparently correct. 

Unfortunately.


	10. Chapter 10

_October_

It had been about three weeks since the punch, and as far as Lemon could tell, all Wade had managed was several awkward, just-friends conversations with Zoe. Thankfully she had only been forced to sit through a few of them. While she and Wade were going to even less trouble than they ever had to look like they were a couple, they were of course still friends and business partners and so they still spent a lot of time together. That meant she was there, forced to feel like a third wheel, the few times that Zoe had approached them (or rather, Wade) at the Rammer Jammer or the town square or even Wade’s place.

Perhaps a better way to put it was Lemon felt like the sole audience to the world’s most pathetic, most frustrating soap opera ever. She had started to suspect that Wade’s reputation with the ladies was a bit of an exaggeration, or at least the type of women he typically went after didn’t require conversation to be swayed off their feet. Because he could barely string two words together without saying something stupid, and Zoe’s forced faux-casualness as she tried to make conversation while not glaring at Lemon was almost painful.

It was blatant to her that the plan to make Zoe realize her true feelings for Wade had been enormously successful. Unfortunately, annoyingly, Wade didn’t see it the same way.

“Would you just tell her how you feel?” Lemon asked for what felt like the millionth time.

Wade sighed loudly before he refocused on touching up the paint along the doorframe to Lemon’s future office. 

“Just – no,” he finally replied.

“Why _not_?” she nearly collapsed against the file cabinet next to her, hating herself for the whining tone of her voice. “I can’t take this anymore.”

“Look, nothing’s changed, OK?’

“ _Everything’s_ changed,” Lemon disagreed.

“No!” Wade turned to her, gesturing with one hand as he continued. “No, it hasn’t. Just because she realized George isn’t the golden boy she thought he was, it doesn’t mean I’m suddenly the man of her dreams. She said herself she’s happy for, you know you and me. I cannot – I _will not_ make a fool of myself with her again.”

Lemon growled in frustration.

“What about you?” Wade said quickly, turning the interrogation on her. “I don’t see you rushing to get George back. Why are you so worried about my love life when you’ve got your own to be dealing with?”

Lemon didn’t reply. She merely focused intently on the pictures she was hanging up on the far wall. 

“Lemon,” Wade cajoled her.

“I don’t want him back, I don’t think,” Lemon quietly confessed. “I haven’t really in a long time.”

Wade stopped his work and turned to face her. He walked over and perched on the edge of the desk, waiting for her to continue.

“You know, at first, I just had these blinders on – break them up, get revenge, get him back. And then I started to realize that…I moved on. It stopped hurting so much. I found other things to care about, things I had forgotten or neglected for too long. I’m happy…well, _content_ with my life.”

Wade was speechless for a moment. “OK, then,” he finally said. “I mean, I’m surprised, but…if you’re sure.”

Lemon nodded. “I am sure…I think.”

Wade laughed slightly before standing up and walking back to the wall he had been working on.

“I want you to be happy too,” Lemon told his back.

Sighing, Wade lifted his hand and used the back of his wrist to rub at his eyebrow, careful to not touch himself with the end of the paintbrush he held.

“You know what would make me happy? Finishing this decorating so we can finally open.”

“Why do you have to run away from the truth, you infuriating man?” Lemon cried out.

“Maybe I’ve moved on too,” Wade claimed. “Ever think of that?”

“Have you?" Lemon asked pointedly. When Wade didn’t reply, she concluded, “That’s what I thought.”

**

Zoe sat at the counter, ostensibly eating dinner but really resting her chin on one hand and staring at nothing. She didn’t even look up when Lavon and Tancy entered the kitchen laughing about something and holding hands. She did, however, notice Lavon slow to a stop in front of her and the laughter die out.

She had gotten really good at sucking the life out of the room lately.

“Hey, Zo’,” Lavon greeted her carefully.

Zoe still didn’t look up. She half-heartedly moved her spoon around the bowl in front of her.

“Hi,” she muttered.

There was a long pause, and Zoe could tell that Lavon and Tancy were looking at each other. And then she heard the clack of Tancy’s shoes on the floor; moments later, a notebook landed on the counter in front of her. Zoe finally looked up.

“It’ll help,” Tancy informed her kindly. “I’ll even let you look at my list for inspiration.”

“List of what?”

“Reasons why it wouldn’t work with Wade anyway,” Lavon explained.

Zoe stared at the notebook for a moment and then flipped to the first empty page. Tancy handed her a pen.

“He really needs business cards or something,” Tancy joked. “Wade Kinsella, Life Ruiner.”

**

Lemon stretched widely and then bent one arm back to rub at her neck. She had just finished making a couple hundred party favors for the reunion and she was tired. Her eyes hurt and her fingers were sore. But at least it was one more thing to check off the to-do list. The reunion was coming up fast, and she wanted it to be perfect.

At least it gave her something to think about besides the grand opening in a few days. Obviously, they hadn’t been able to keep it a secret once most of the renovations had been completed. Everyone in town had been giving tips and making predictions about whether they’d succeed. Lemon’s nerves were frayed.

And it gave her something to think about besides the _looks_ that George Tucker shot her during church services and across the square and when they passed each other on the street. Those looks that reminded her just how much he could make her feel loved and cherished and like the only person in the world. Those looks had been a lie, though, and she was pretty sure she wasn’t ready to start believing them again.

A knock on the door interrupted the thoughts Lemon was trying very hard not to have. She glanced up, and her heart stopped for a moment. Speak of the devil…

Lemon stood, smoothing out her skirt as she walked over to the door and let George inside.

“Hello George,” she greeted him, grateful that her voice sounded normal, even if the rest of her didn’t feel that way.

“Hi Lemon.”

They stood there, staring at each other. Lemon had no idea how to react. Somewhere inside her, all of her training was pushing her to lead him to a seat, offer him some refreshments, ask questions, in general be a charming hostess. But if there was one thing Lemon had learned from all this, it was that sometimes, being the perfect Southern Belle didn’t smooth over everything. She didn’t want to welcome George into her home. She wanted to know why he was there. And so that’s what she asked him, as coldly and directly as possible.

George faltered, looking down at his hands as he searched for an answer.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing, Lemon,” he finally said.

“Well. I’m very, very busy, George.”

George nodded quickly. “I’ve heard about your company, Lemon. I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

Lemon stared at him, hardening her stance and shutting down all emotion. She waited for him to continue.

“Anyway,” George continued awkwardly, nervously. “I thought we could get something to eat or – or a drink and you could tell me all about it.”

Lemon blinked, inhaled, exhaled, swallowed. Finally she managed to say (and mostly managed to believe), “I don’t think that would be a good idea George. Thank you, but like I said, I’m very busy.”

George looked down again quickly. After a moment, he nodded and then stepped back towards the door. Lemon followed after him. To see him out, of course. Not because some part of her wanted to be close to him for as long as she could. 

George stopped by the door and forced himself to look at her again. His eyes were incredibly pained and apologetic, and Lemon glanced away before she could get sucked into them.

“Lemon, I…I can’t make up for what happened. I know I – I ruined everything. And I know you and Wade are – ” George exhaled sharply. “If you would give me another chance, I promise – ”

“George,” Lemon interrupted. She paused and regrouped. Continuing with a quick shake of her head, she said, “You know everything there is to know about me – or at least, you did. Which means you also knew the very cruelest ways to hurt me. Apologies and pretty promises aren’t enough anymore. Everything that happened, the things we _both_ did to each other…do we really even belong together? Are you trying so hard now because you really love me and you’ve realized you _do_ want to spend the rest of our lives together? Or is it just because I’m the one you don’t and can’t have now? Or maybe because you’re single again and we’re…habit?”

“It’s not like that,” George said emphatically. “I think we just need to be honest and – I don’t know, maybe we could try therapy again or – ”

“You wouldn’t try therapy the first time,” she reminded him.

“It’s different now,” George argued.

“Because it’s what you want?” Lemon laughed humorlessly. “It’s always about what you want, when you want it. Just like – just like my mother. Well, I’m sorry, George, but I’m going to prove Wade wrong. Things don’t always work out perfectly for you.”

The expression on George’s face nearly broke Lemon’s heart all over again. But she couldn’t let it sway her. She had made her decision and while maybe she wasn’t entirely happy with it, it was something she could respect herself for, something she could live with – more than the pain any alternative might cause, at any rate.

“Goodbye George.”

**

The grand opening party was in full swing, most of the guests having long since switched from Lemon’s half of the building to Wade’s. After several hours of being on his best behavior, Wade had clearly started to relax, and the easy smile on his face as he leaned over the bar and talked to Tom and Wanda made Zoe smile herself. She took a breath and steeled herself before walking up to him. Their last several encounters had been awkward to say the least, and she just wanted this one to feel, somehow, right. She had made a list and was over him now, or something, and so there was no reason they couldn’t be friends. Anyway, the fact that Wade had finally started helping himself to his specialty concoctions could only work in her favor.

When she arrived, the other two exchanged a few pleasantries with her and then took their drinks. As she walked away, Wanda shot Zoe a meaningful and not at all subtle look that Zoe pretended she didn’t notice. Facing Wade and stepping fully up to the bar, she leaned on top of it. Her hands, loosely curled into fists, rested only millimeters away from Wade’s. If she moved even slightly, they’d be touching. She focused instead on the fact that Wade didn’t move his hands _away_.

“Wade,” she started, feeling bizarrely like they were having an intimate conversation despite the atmosphere and noise level of the group surrounding them. “This is – it’s just amazing. You and Lemon did a great job.”

Wade’s smile was fleeting and a little embarrassed, and Zoe felt her heart clench. He looked at their hands, and then, with his head still tilted slightly down, he glanced back up at her. 

“Thank you,” he replied. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I do. I just wish I could have played a bigger role in it. Helped you somehow. This was so important to you.” Zoe trailed off, afraid she had revealed too much or that she was sounding selfish or that she was messing up again.

Wade’s smile grew, and Zoe’s fears lessened. 

“Well, I’ll need plenty of help keeping this place in business,” he informed her teasingly. Zoe hadn’t realized how much she missed being teased by him. She wondered when – or if – that teasing would ever cross over the line into flirting again. 

“I hope I can count on you,” Wade concluded.

“Absolutely. I’ll be in here every night, if you want me to be.”

“Definitely,” Wade said, his grin prompting one of Zoe’s own. “I stocked up on some of that wine you like.”

Zoe furrowed her brow. “The white – ”

Wade shook his head. “The boxed.”

Zoe leaned forward, reaching across the bar to smack him. His laughter rang out, and Zoe’s heart soared.

**

“Uh, Lemon?”

Lemon held up her pointer finger to indicate she needed a moment. Huffing quietly as a group of people stepped into her line of sight, she stretched to the side to continue watching the scene at the bar.

“Lemon?”

She sighed and gave up. Facing Lavon, she gave him a quick smile. 

“Hello Lavon. Care to join me?”

“Um, no. Thanks.” He looked at the drinks in his hand. “Tancy’s waiting for me. I just wanted to say congratulations.”

“Thank you!” Lemon replied graciously before adding, “You too. Tancy, I mean. You two make a great couple.”

Lavon nodded slowly, looking around the room. He too watched Wade and Zoe for a couple moments, and then he turned to Lemon quickly again.

“Any clients yet?”

“You mean, besides my father?” Lemon asked, laughing. “He said he wanted to be the first, even though I told him I’d be planning his birthday party either way.”

Lavon smiled. “It’s good that he’s supportive.”

“Yes,” Lemon agreed. “And yes, I do have a couple clients already. I think Wade and I are going to be quite successful.”

Lavon turned to the bar again, and Lemon took the opportunity to find out what was going on too. Annabeth and Shelley were both there now, getting drinks, but Zoe still remained. And when the other two left, she moved back to her previous spot. Wade leaned down again and they started talking, their heads bent towards each other unnecessarily. Lemon smiled, relieved that they apparently finally managed to find their groove again. From there, it’d be a simple step to – 

“Lemon, about Wade,” Lavon said, interrupting her train of thought. “I don’t mean to hurt you, but I think you ought to know.”

Lemon raised an eyebrow.

“It’s just…well, he’s always been rather hung up on Zoe and I’m not sure he’s completely over her.” 

Lavon’s face was apologetic and grave, and Lemon almost felt bad for him when she burst into laughter.

“You bought it too?” she finally managed to ask.


	11. Chapter 11

_November_

“Where do you want these collages?” Wade yelled, bringing the large boards of pictures into the school gym.

Lemon paused in her set up of the refreshments table. Twisting, she turned to look at Wade, then pointed to the corner closest to the door. 

“Start there with the first day of kindergarten pictures and work around the room to graduation. They’re numbered on the back.”

“’kay!” he shouted back.

Lemon waited a moment, taking the opportunity to carefully line up the containers of utensils. When enough time had passed for Wade to reach the corner and begin to put the pictures up, she quickly and lightly ran up behind him, trying her best not to make too much noise.

His reaction was everything she had hoped for. He simply stared at the picture in the center of the collage for a long moment, but Lemon knew it had made a huge impact. She stepped closer to him, leaning slightly against his arm, so he knew she was there. Then she focused on the collage. All the pictures were the same, every one of their classmates standing on the steps to the elementary school with one or both of their parents. 

“I don’t have many pictures of her,” Wade observed quietly, his voice breaking slightly. “Earl destroyed a lot of them after…”

When he didn’t continue, Lemon cleared her throat. “Well, then I’m even more pleased with my gift for you.”

He looked at her, raising one eyebrow in confusion. 

“Out in my car,” she explained. “I was going to give it to you at the end of the night. I made a copy of that picture and framed it.”

Wade inhaled deeply. “Thank you,” he finally said.

“No, thank you,” Lemon countered, reaching out to grab his hand. “These last few months should have been some of the worst of my life. You made them not only bearable but truly wonderful.”

“Likewise.” 

Wade smiled at her, and after a moment, they simultaneously turned to look out over the gym.

“I don’t believe it,” Wade said, “but I’m looking forward to this reunion, actually.”

Lemon shrugged. “Of course you are. An event by Lemon Breeland? With alcohol supplied by the hottest new bar in town?”

Wade laughed loudly. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“Wade Kinsella,” Lemon observed, a tiny smirk flashing on her face. “I think this is the middle of a beautiful friendship.”

“I don’t think that’s how it goes.”

“Whatever. By the way, you’re going to dance with me tonight.”

Wade sighed long-sufferingly. “Yes, fine. I’ve already promised the first dance to Annabeth, though.”

Lemon snorted. “She wants in your pants.” 

“Can you blame her?”

Lemon rolled her eyes and pushed off the wall. Walking back towards the refreshments table, she called out, “Save the last dance for me. Now hang up those collages; we’re running out of time.”

“Bossy,” Wade muttered to himself as he turned back to the picture boards.

**

Wade had done his duty by Annabeth and was now taking full advantage of the free food Lemon had promised him so long ago. He really couldn’t be too happy about the open bar since he was the one supplying it, but he didn’t really care either. It was good for business to give back to the community, after all.

He strolled around the room, looking at some of the pictures in more detail now that he had more time than before. The one in front of him included the peewee football team photo. Wade smiled and leaned in, trying to see how many people he could identify. They were all ridiculous in their pads and helmets, looking decidedly unthreatening and baby-faced. 

“No wonder we lost every game,” came a voice behind him.

Wade started, quickly backing up and turning to look at George. His shoulders were tense for all of a moment, and then he relaxed. Their fight was long enough ago – and too pointless – to still be holding a grudge.

“Hey Tucker,” he finally said, before facing the photo again. “Yeah, we were not at all intimidating.”

George didn’t respond for a long moment. Taking a breath, he began quietly, “Wade, look. I’m – ”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I shouldn’t have punched you.”

“Nope,” Wade agreed. “But I shouldn’t have kissed Lemon. We were both getting our revenge.”

Wade sensed George looking at him curiously, but he didn’t offer any further information.

“So…we’re good, Donkey Kong?”

Wade nodded, a smile hinting at the corners of his mouth. “We’re good, Mighty Mouse.”

**

Zoe sniffled softly. She reached for one end of the blanket wrapped around her and used it to wipe at her eyes. In retrospect, the Nicholas Sparks marathon was probably not the wisest idea. But in a way, it was still better than torturing herself by wondering how close Wade and Lemon were holding each other as they danced. Or if maybe they had snuck away from the reunion for a little privacy. 

Zoe closed her eyes and shook her head, mad at herself for getting this upset over a guy. But she couldn’t help herself. And, she tried to justify, everyone deserved the occasional wallow.

Lavon walked into his living room just then, stopping in surprise when he saw Zoe there. Judging by his expression, he didn’t agree with Zoe’s wallowing conclusion. 

“Enough’s enough,” he declared. “Get up, get out of your little cocoon there.”

Zoe sighed. “And do what?”

“Go tell him the truth!”

“I can’t,” Zoe moaned.

“Yes, you can. You have to. You’re far too pathetic like this.”

Zoe glared at Lavon. “Oh, thanks.”

“Lavon Hayes calls them like he sees them.”

Zoe moved then, struggling beneath the blankets as she managed to finally sit up. “You said it yourself, Lavon. I have to be an adult about these things. I have to accept Wade’s decisions.”

“I’ve changed my mind,” Lavon said, somewhat cryptically. “I think you should fight for him. You were on the verge of crashing George’s wedding. Don’t you think Wade deserves a _conversation_?”

“He’s with Lemon,” Zoe reminded him quietly.

Lavon sat down in front of her. He looked directly in her eyes and said firmly, “Wade didn’t fall in love with moral high ground Zoe. He fell in love with crazy, scene-making Zoe. I’m positive if you go there and remind him what he’s missing out on, Lemon won’t be an issue.”

“You think so?”

“Trust me. I _know_ so.”

**

Lemon’s feet ached, but she smiled happily as she looked around the dance floor. Most of the guests were still there, and it looked like most of them had had a fantastic time. She mentally patted herself on the back and faced her dance partner again.

“Did you have a good time tonight?”

Wade inhaled slowly, rocking his head back and forth. “Eh,” he said noncommittally.

Lemon was not amused; she squeezed her fingernails into his shoulder. 

“Yes,” Wade immediately gave in. “It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.”

“What are you talking about? It was the best reunion ever.”

“OK,” Wade humored her. Turning serious, “We _do_ make a pretty good team.”

“We do,” Lemon agreed. “If you and Zoe didn’t belong together, I might have considered giving her a run for her money.”

Wade barked in laughter before responding with, “I might have been tempted.”

They looked at each other then, the humor disappearing as they stared into each other’s eyes just a little too long. And then simultaneously, they broke each other’s gaze, both exhaling awkward laughs.

“Anyway,” Lemon continued, “Best reunion ever.”

“Not sure everyone would agree with you,” Wade pointed out, suddenly serious. He tipped his head subtly and Lemon cautiously looked in the direction he indicated. “Tucker’s been pretty miserable all night.”

Lemon sighed, somewhere between exasperation and regret. “Yes, he has,” she agreed.

Wade stared at her for a moment. “You gonna take him back or not?”

“No,” Lemon replied quickly. 

“Really?” Wade sounded like he wasn’t quite convinced.

“Well, honestly, Wade, what do you expect? I do have some pride, you know.”

“More than some,” Wade shot back. “Doesn’t keep you warm at night.”

“This coming from you! You won’t tell Zoe how you feel because of some baseless fear she’ll reject you again.”

“Yeah, but whoever said you should use me as a relationship role model?”

Lemon laughed slightly, shaking her head. Then she continued, more seriously, “Wade, I can’t do it anymore. We keep breaking each other’s hearts. Over and over again. You know what people say about doing the same thing and expecting different results.”

Wade was silent for a moment. “If there’s anything I learned from my whatever-the-hell-it-is with Zoe, it’s that l – ” He hesitated, clearing his throat before continuing. “Love’s supposed to make you do some crazy things.”

Lemon didn’t respond, and when Wade glanced at her to gauge her expression, he realized she was more than a little distracted. She was staring at the door to the gym, but when Wade tried to twist to see what she was looking at, she stopped him immediately.

“Be cool. Be cool.”

“What the hell, Lemon?”

“She’s here.”

“Uh…who?”

Lemon rolled her eyes. “Zoe!”

The color drained from Wade’s cheeks and he attempted to turn again. Lemon pulled his shoulder forward, forcing him to face her.

“Let her come to you,” she instructed, unable to stop the smile growing on her face. “This _is_ the best reunion ever, complete with big romantic scene at the end of the night.”

“You don’t know that,” Wade objected.

“Then why is she making her way over here?” Lemon said, pausing to give a little squeal. Wade winced at the noise. Then Lemon continued with her directions. “OK, don’t say anything stupid, and don’t be, you know, _you_ if she does.”

Wade swallowed, feeling increasingly nervous the bigger a deal Lemon made out of everything. He cleared his throat. Lemon smiled at him in understanding and encouragement.

“I’m going to try to like her,” she added quickly. “For your sake. I’m not saying she and I’ll ever be best friends, but I’m not going to lose you just because your girlfriend’s my nemesis.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Wade pointed out.

“Am I?” Lemon mouthed.

“Um, hi!”

Zoe’s voice broke through their conversation, and they both turned to face her. Lemon’s smile more than made up for Wade’s expression of complete dumbfounded panic. Zoe looked back and forth between them nervously.

“Can I – cut in?”

Wade tried to say something, anything. No luck.

“Absolutely!” Lemon replied for him.

She walked away then, flashing a quick grin at Wade. He stared after her for a moment, then faced Zoe again. She forced a smile back to her face, and the only thing that made Wade relax even slightly was the terror in her eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

Wade hesitated only a moment before he stepped forward and took Zoe into his arms. They started swaying; no one could even charitably call it dancing. Wade figured they were both a little too preoccupied to really pay much attention to how they were moving. Finally, he managed to make eye contact again. Zoe looked at him briefly, before dropping her gaze. She moved her hand along his arm, up to his shoulder; Wade closed his eyes at the caress.

“Wade,” she began, her voice barely louder than the music.

He physically had to clamp his jaw shut to prevent himself from speaking. His potential responses ranged anywhere from “What are you doing here, anyway? You didn’t graduate from this school” to “Wanna sneak into the nurse’s office and give me a physical?” He was pretty sure any one of his immediate comebacks would constitute as _something stupid_ in Lemon’s book, so biting his tongue seemed the best strategy.

Maybe not the very best, though, because when he didn’t respond, Zoe inhaled shakily. Her body tensed, and Wade held her tighter in response, afraid she’d run off.

“Wade,” she said again.

“What is it, Zoe?” he asked.

She forced herself to look up at him again, and Wade steeled himself so he wouldn’t look away. He licked his lips nervously, and her eyes dropped down to his mouth.

He had never wanted to kiss her so badly.

“Why didn’t you punch George?”

The question was so unexpected, it pulled Wade right out of the moment. He stared at Zoe in confusion.

“What?” he finally managed to ask.

Zoe looked equally shocked at the question, and she shifted in his arms awkwardly. And then she furrowed her brow and nodded in determination.

“Why didn’t you?” she repeated. “Why didn’t – why didn’t you tell him to stay away? Why didn’t you kiss me or say something that morning? Why didn’t you fight for me?”

Wade was speechless. Finally he managed to ask, “Are you serious?”

“Yes! You didn’t even try.”

“I thought he was what you wanted,” Wade said testily, enunciating each syllable.

“I didn’t know I had any other options,” Zoe replied, sounded equally annoyed.

“What?!” Wade looked around quickly after that outburst. A few people turned to look at them before returning to their own dance partners. “Of course you did,” he hissed, dropping his volume to almost a whisper.

Zoe shook her head sharply. “’I’m not saying I want to marry you.’ ‘No better cure for your little crush.’ ‘Just sexual frustration,’” she reminded him.

Wade exhaled harshly. He stared over her shoulder, shaking his head and biting his lip. “You made it clear you weren’t interested in anything else from me.”

“Because I’m so snobbish and superior, right?” 

Wade stared at her, dumbfounded. This was not at all what he was expecting, or at least hoping, would happen when Zoe had appeared at the reunion. But he had no idea how to stop it.

Zoe shook her head. “What am I even doing here?” she asked rhetorically, her voice breaking.

And with that, Zoe turned and walked away from him. Wade was immobile as he watched her leave. In fact, he was immobile until a minute or two after she exited the gym entirely. What brought him back to reality was a sharp smack to the back of the head. He turned in shock to see Lemon’s expression of exasperation.

“What did you say?”

Wade’s mouth opened, but he had no answer. And then he turned away from Lemon and ran in the direction Zoe had disappeared.

**

The lights turned on and everyone cleared out shortly after Wade had run off. More than a few people had given Lemon sympathetic looks, no doubt wondering how she’d handle two men who were supposed to be in a relationship with her running after Zoe Hart in less than a year. 

She was really starting to worry about the critical observation skills of the people of Bluebell.

But eventually everyone had left, even Annabeth who tried to stay behind and help Lemon clean up. Lemon had sent her home though, wanting to have some time to herself as she celebrated the completion of her first major professional project. 

She couldn’t stop her smile of accomplished satisfaction as she walked across the room to start the clean-up process. She decided to take the collages down first; the pictures had survived the night without damage so far, and she didn’t want to tempt fate any longer than she had to. 

And that plan went fairly well, at first. She had taken two collages down, placing them carefully in a pile in the corner. But when she reached the third board, she just happened to catch a glimpse of one of the pictures.

It was George. Looking entirely too young and handsome, the way she’d picture him while he was in New York, the way he was when she first fell in love with him.

It was too unfair.

Lemon didn’t know for sure how long she stared at the picture. She didn’t know when the tears started to stream down her face. She certainly didn’t know when exactly whoever it was behind her had come into the room. But when she finally realized she wasn’t alone, she jumped in surprise, turning quickly to find out who it was.

Of course it was George. Of _course_ it was. She angled away again quickly, trying to wipe her eyes as surreptitiously as possible.

“George! What are you doing here?” she asked, managing to sound simply curious, if a little too loud. She forced a smile to her face and turned towards him again.

He didn’t answer for a moment, and Lemon grew nervous when she saw him looking at the picture too. 

“Do you need help?” he finally asked. 

“Oh! No. No, thank you, George. That’s sweet of you to offer, but I can handle it.”

The expression on George’s face was entirely too dangerous for Lemon’s resolve, so she focused on his throat instead. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed and then breathed in.

“You did a great job tonight, Lemon. Beautiful reunion.”

“Thank you, George,” she murmured, suddenly distracted as she remembered the salty taste of George’s neck when she’d kiss it after they made love, the way that Adam’s apple felt beneath her tongue, how his throat would vibrate when he chuckled and she could feel it against her cheek when he held her close. Apparently every part of George was too dangerous for Lemon to look at just then.

“I got you a present,” George continued. “To celebrate your first gig.”

He held out a small box then, and Lemon hesitated. She glanced up at his eyes again, and then looked at the box. Cautiously, she reached out and took it.

“Oh, George,” she said as she pulled the lid off the box. “You didn’t have to – ”

She stopped short when she saw the ring, and she felt her heart start beating impossibly faster. George cleared his throat.

“Ted down at the jewelry store,” George explained, his voice rough. “He called me a couple weeks ago to tell me he had that and ask if I wanted it back.”

Lemon stared up at George then, dumbfounded. His eyes were soft, and he gave her a tiny smile.

“I…I know I can’t make you put it back on. But I can make sure you have it in case you ever want to.”

Lemon burst into tears. She lifted her free hand to her eyes, bending her head down slightly as she tried to control herself. But she just started crying harder when his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close, when he patted her back comfortingly and murmured soothing sounds in her ear.

“I hate you, George Tucker!” she managed to say between her sobs. It didn’t sound at all sincere and was only further belied when she reached up to wrap her arms around his shoulders and pull him closer.

**

“God damn, you’re fast,” Wade yelled as he charged into Zoe’s house.

She was sitting on the bed, hugging a pillow, and she jumped in shock when he appeared.

“Don’t you knock?!” she shouted back.

“You really want to talk about my manners right now?”

Zoe exhaled sharply and looked away. She lifted a hand and rubbed at her eye. “What do you want, Wade?”

“I want to stop running away from each other,” Wade declared. He stepped closer, as if to drive home the point. “I want us to stop lying and acting like we don’t…”

Zoe faced him again. “Don’t what?”

Wade hesitated before finding the courage to say, “Care about each other.”

“I _don’t_ care about you!” Zoe responded, obviously lying.

“I don’t believe you!”

“I don’t!” Zoe repeated, climbing out of bed and marching over to meet him. “I don’t care that we stopped talking, stopped – stopped laughing. I definitely don’t care that we stopped fighting. That! That was at the top of my list: ‘we’re always fighting.’”

Wade did a double take and then grinned, suddenly looking far too smug.

“What list was that, Zoe?”

Zoe paused, thrown by his reaction. She awkwardly crossed her arms in front of her. “Lavon and Tancy made me make this list.”

“List of what?” he pressed, stepping even closer.

“All the,” Zoe said uncertainly, moving back as he continued to advance on her. “All the reasons we wouldn’t work as a couple.”

“Long list, was it?” Wade asked, his grin growing wider when Zoe backed into the wall and was forced to stop. 

“Huge!” she said defiantly.

“And did it work?” Wade dropped his gaze to Zoe’s lips and lifted one hand to her waist. She inhaled shakily, and he added, “All that purging? You over me?”

She put one hand on his chest, but stopped just short of pushing him away.

“Well?” he prodded.

“No,” Zoe whispered, caving. “There are so many negatives against you, Wade, but God help me, I think they’re kind of cute.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I could probably fight with you the rest of my life,” she confessed.

Wade’s laugh brought a relieved smile to Zoe’s face. She looked up at him, her eyes searching his.

“I’d be OK with that,” Wade admitted softly, a little breathlessly.

“Then why are you with Lemon?” Zoe asked sadly, her face falling.

Wade froze, and Zoe stopped breathing, waiting for a reply, waiting for him to remember he wasn’t single, waiting for him to back away. Instead he just blinked at her and moved his jaw as he searched for an answer.

“Um, Zoe, I – ”

And then Zoe found the strength to push him away. She couldn’t be here, like this, with _another_ man. 

“I shouldn’t have come to the reunion tonight,” she said apologetically, even as her heart broke. She started babbling as she tried to excuse or at least explain her behavior that night. “I tried _so_ hard to be supportive and – and back off, but I just, I couldn’t. I don’t know. I must just have some sort of _sick_ need to go after Lemon Breeland’s boyfriends!”

Wade’s hand on her shoulder spun her around and then pulled her into a kiss. Zoe’s voice was muffled and then slowly died out as she lifted her hands to Wade’s chest. He deepened the kiss, and Zoe whimpered, succumbing for just a moment before backing away.

“You were freaking out,” he explained with a smirk. “I thought I'd snap you out of it.”

“Wade, please be serious.”

“I am serious when I tell you I am not with Lemon. I never was.”

“Huh?”

Wade shook his head. “It’s a very long, stupid story and – and it was her idea!”

“So…you’re…you’re not – ”

“No,” Wade confirmed. When she didn’t do much more than blink at him, he added nervously, “Zoe?”

“I can’t decide if I want to slap you or kiss you!” she finally yelled.

Wade made the decision for her.

**

Zoe rested her head on Wade’s chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeat start to slow. Her arm was wrapped around his waist, and his hand rested just centimeters away from where her fingers were tucked between him and the mattress. His other hand slowly stroked her hair. Zoe knew without even looking that he was gazing down at her, and the lazy, satiated smile on his face matched her own. In many ways, it felt like they were back in the same position they had been so many months ago, with the chance to do it right this time. 

The feeling of déjà vu only strengthened when a sharp knock on the front door sounded through the house, followed by Lavon’s muffled voice calling her name. Wade lifted himself slightly even as Zoe turned in the door’s direction. And moments later, over where Wade’s pants ended up, the Pistol Annies started singing about better days from the cell phone in his pocket. Not for the first time, he wished he could figure out how to change the damn ring tone Lemon had programmed into it.

Zoe faced Wade and they stared at each other, eyes wide. 

“Don’t answer it,” they ordered simultaneously.

Breaking into laughter, they met in a kiss. Wade rolled Zoe underneath him, sliding his palm along her bare skin and pulling her even closer, as they ignored the interruptions.

The End


End file.
